Two Hungarian Gripen fighter jets intercepted five Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea on Sept. 25, NATO Air Command reported.
The news follows a string of tense incidents involving Russian aircraft, including several breaches of NATO countries’ airspace and the downing of Russian drones over Poland.
The Russian warplanes — including three MiG-31s, a Su-30, and a Su-35 —flew over the Baltic Sea near Latvian airspace.
Hungarian Gripen fighter jets took off from the Siauliai air base in Lithuania to intercept the Russian aircraft.
“Hungary demonstrates the alliance’s commitment to protecting and safeguarding the Baltics and the eastern flank,” the statement read.
Two 🇭🇺 Gripen fighters on @NATO Baltic #AirPolicing scrambled on 25 Sep from Siauliai 🇱🇹 in response to a 🇷🇺 Su-30, Su-35 and 3x MiG-31 flying close to 🇱🇻 airspace🇭🇺 demonstrates the Alliance’s commitment to protecting and safeguarding the Baltics and the eastern flank pic.twitter.com/EMG035s0qm
— NATO Air Command (@NATO_AIRCOM) September 25, 2025
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, broadly seen as one of the most Kremlin-friendly leaders in NATO, has sought to distance his country from the mounting tensions, connecting the Russian incursion into Poland to Warsaw’s support for Ukraine.
NATO has called upon Russia to refrain from escalatory actions, saying they “risk miscalculation and endanger lives.”
Earlier today, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) announced it had detected two Russian Tu-95 bombers and two Su-35 fighter jets near Alaska on Sept. 24.
On Sept. 19, three Russian MiG-31s entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland near the island of Vaindlo, roughly 81 kilometers (50 miles) from Helsinki. It was the first such violation of Estonian airspace involving multiple fighter jets.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said any decision to shoot down Russian aircraft violating allied airspace would depend on the specific threat level, adding that in Estonia’s case, the incident did not pose a direct threat to the alliance’s security.
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