Experts say that Russia is ‘deliberately testing the limits of NATO’s capabilities’.
The UK’s defence secretary has issued a warning to Moscow. (Image: Getty)
Vladimir Putin has been warned that the UK won’t hesitate to act if Russia continues its incursions into NATO airspace. The Defence Secretary, Jon Healey, said: “Our Typhoons are fully equipped to take out Russian drones that enter NATO airspace. And we will not hesitate to act.”
This warning comes after three Russian MiG-31 jets entered Estonian air space on Friday. The 12-minute violation of NATO airspace was the third in a little more than a week. 10 days earlier, Russian drones entered Polish airspace. Six days before that, a Russian drone was intercepted flying over Romania. Yesterday, tensions flared over eastern Europe once again, as NATO warplanes were scrambled for the second time this week after a fresh wave of Russian drone strikes on Ukraine. Speaking on Friday evening, US President Donald Trump said of Moscow’s aircraft in Estonia that there could be “big trouble” ahead.
Russian MiG-31 violated Estonian airspace (Image: Getty)
He added: “I don’t love it – I don’t like when that happens.” The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that Russia is “intensifying its efforts to test NATO’s defensive capabilities and resolve by violating NATO members’ safety zones in the air domain”.
Amid his stark warning to the Kremlin, Mr Healey also wrote in the Mail on Sunday: “Britain will not be cowed.”
He then invoked the RAF’s vanquishing of the Luftwaffe in 1940, adding: “This weekend, as we honour the heroism of the Battle of Britain generation, it is especially poignant that RAF pilots and crew are once again standing shoulder to shoulder with Poland in defence of our shared security – making us secure at home and strong abroad.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that his country is the closest to open conflict since WW2. (Image: Getty)
The ISW added that Polish Border Guards reported on September 19 that two Russian fighter jets performed a low altitude pass over the Polish Lotos Petrobaltic oil and gas drilling platform in the Baltic Sea “in direct violation of the platform’s safety zone”.
Experts said: “ISW continues to assess that Russia is deliberately testing the limits of NATO’s capabilities with various air incursions in an effort to gather data on the alliance’s response measures and political will that Russia may then apply to potential conflicts against NATO.”
