NATO fighter jets engaged in six operations over the past week following manoeuvres by the Russian air force along the border with the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, according to dpa. Eighteen aircraft were sighted during those operations, the Lithuanian Defence Ministry said on Monday. The Russian military aircraft were identified in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, most of them transport aircraft and accompanying fighter jets, according to the ministry. The electronic identification on most of them had been turned off, it added. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have no fighter jets of their own, which is why the NATO military alliance has secured Baltic airspace since 2004 at regular intervals.
