NATO scrambled two German Eurofighter jets on 21 September in response to a Russian military aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea, German news agency DPA reported, citing the German Air Force.

The encounter comes amid a pattern of increased Russian military activity near NATO’s eastern borders.

The plane, which had no flight plan or radio contact, was in international airspace and appeared to be an Il-20M reconnaissance aircraft.

Additional aircraft are on standby to protect NATO’s eastern flank amid recent airspace violations by Russia.

On 19 September, Russian MiG-31 jets entered Estonian airspace for around 12 minutes and two other Russian aircraft flew over Poland’s Petrobaltic oil platform in the Baltic Sea.

Earlier this month, Russian drones also entered Polish and Romanian airspace.