Nordic Scramble

Finland and Sweden scrambled fighter jets together for the first time Thursday, intercepting a Russian military formation over the Gulf of Finland.

The Finnish Air Force said Friday its Quick Reaction Alert jets, flying with Swedish counterparts, identified a Tu-134 transport plane escorted by MiG-31 and Su-30 fighters in international airspace, according to Euronews and Jpost. Both outlets called it the first joint operational identification mission between the two air forces.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson posted on X that the operation showed what Nordic cooperation could do to defend regional airspace. "The Baltic Sea has never been as vulnerable as it is now, but it has also never been better protected than it is right now," he wrote, according to Euronews. Finland and Sweden abandoned decades of military non-alignment after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Both joined NATO.

Hours earlier, Danish intelligence chief Thomas Ahrenkiel told reporters there is "a low but growing risk" that Russia could launch a limited military attack on a NATO country bordering it, the Independent reported. An outright invasion remains "highly unlikely," he said, according to Euronews. Not impossible.

Such an attack could take the form of isolated strikes on infrastructure that supports Ukraine, using long-range drones or missiles, the Independent reported. Ahrenkiel also raised the possibility of a false-flag operation using Ukrainian-made drones. Danish intelligence expects Russia to intensify hybrid attacks too, including sabotage of defense companies and railway shipments of military equipment, plus cyberattacks capable of crippling critical infrastructure, according to Euronews.

Tensions over the Baltic Sea have built for years. Nordic jets scramble regularly to intercept Russian aircraft near their borders. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte launched the Eastern Sentry program after a Russian violation of Polish airspace, Euronews reported. Some European officials have described such incursions as Moscow testing NATO's response. The Kremlin has dismissed claims that it is behind unexplained European airspace incidents as "unfounded."

Eight people died in a separate Russian barrage across Ukraine on Thursday, including six at a vegetable storage facility in the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian officials said, according to the Independent. The overnight assault involved 282 drones.