Over the past few days, NATO fighters have been scrambled three times to intercept Russian aircraft operating near NATO airspace.

On April 28, Polish Air Force fighters were called as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission from Estonia to identify two Russian long-range supersonic Tu-160 "Blackjack" bombers, escorted by several fighters and supported by the A-50 early warning aircraft. The formation was later intercepted by the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) fighters.

On the same day, the Russian A-50 early warning aircraft, as well as two Russian long-range Tu-22M "Backfire" bombers with a fighter escort approached NATO airspace off the coast of Norway and were intercepted by Norwegian fighters from the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) .

On April 29, Norwegian fighter aircraft were scrambled twice to intercept two Russian Tu-142 "Bear-F" patrol planes approaching NATO airspace near Norway. After being intercepted by Norwegian F-16 aircraft, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) scrambled its Typhoon fighters from the Lossiemouth RAF base, announcing a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA). Typhoons accompanied Russian planes heading south towards the North Sea. The Russians then turned north, where the Norwegian F-35 met them again and led the "guests" out of NATO's area of interest.

"All interceptions were carried out in a professional manner, which shows that NATO fighters throughout the Alliance are constantly and fully ready to protect the airspace of their allies. "- we read in a NATO statement.

Sources: defpost.com, wikipedia.org, businessinsider.com