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Norway reports three airspace intrusions by Russian warplanes in 2025, condemns Moscow’s ‘irresponsible and unacceptable conduct’
Manage episode 508068372 series 3381925
On Tuesday, Norway revealed that Russian aircraft have violated its airspace three times this year after more than a decade of no such intrusions. Joining its NATO allies in condemning Russian violations of the alliance’s airspace, Norway reported that the violations in 2025 occurred in late April, late July, and most recently on August 18, when a Su-33 fighter jet briefly passed through Norwegian airspace over the sea area northeast of Vardo. In a potential fourth case, unidentified drones forced the closure of airports in Norway and Denmark before dawn on Tuesday, September 23. Danish authorities say they have not ruled out Moscow’s involvement.
The aerial trespassing underscores growing tensions as NATO countries face mounting Russian provocations. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said the violations were “less grave” than recent breaches in Estonia, Poland, and Romania but still called them “serious incidents.” Store noted that his government hasn’t determined whether the airspace violations were intentional or accidental, but he said Norway has made it clear to Russia that “this is not acceptable,” whatever the reason. Estonia’s September 19 airspace breach — where Russian MiG-31s spent 12 minutes over the Gulf of Finland — prompted emergency meetings at the U.N. Security Council and NATO.
In response to an Article 4 declaration by the Polish government after a Russian drone incursion earlier this month, the alliance launched “Operation Eastern Sentry,” establishing collective policies and procedures for aerial defense on NATO’s eastern flank. “If another missile or aircraft enters our space without permission, deliberately or by mistake, and gets shot down and the wreckage falls on NATO territory, please don’t come here to whine about it,” Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski told Russia’s delegation at Monday’s U.N. Security Council emergency session. “You have been warned.”
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