The French army announced on Tuesday that a Russian plane had been intercepted off the Estonian coast.
“Take-off on alert and interception of a Russian Il-20 “Coot” reconnaissance and intelligence aircraft off the Estonian coast by French Mirage 2000-5s. Objective: protect the airspace of our Baltic allies”, a indicated Tuesday February 27 on X (ex-Twitter) the French army. Few more details have been publicly revealed by the General Staff. This event occurs after two years, and the start of the war in Ukraine, the relationship between Western countries and Russia has significantly cooled. Monday evening, Emmanuel Macron also affirmed that he no longer “excluded the sending of ground troops” to Ukraine, which also sparked strong reactions among Paris’s allies.
While the intervention took place nearly 1,900 kilometers from Paris, the presence of a French plane off the Estonian coast may be surprising. But that’s not the case. A good number of French military aircraft are in fact mobilized in different NATO member countries. A deployment orchestrated as part of “NATO Sky Police” missions. Missions during which “Allies with combat aircraft help those who do not have them to ensure the integrity of their airspace”, specifies the NATO website on this subject.
