French Mirage 2000 intercepts a Russian reconnaissance plane off Estonia

The General Staff of the Armed Forces announced on Tuesday that a French Mirage 2000 fighter plane intercepted a Russian intelligence plane off the Estonian coast. “Alert take-off and interception of a Russian reconnaissance and intelligence aircraft Il-20 “Coot” off the Estonian coast by French Mirage 2000-5 aircraft”wrote to the X General Staff on February 27. “Goal: to protect the airspace of our allies in the Baltic region.”

French military aircraft are deployed in the Baltic states as part of a NATO mission called “sky police”. Last November, France announced the deployment of four Mirage 2000-5* aircraft in Lithuania. Their role is “Maintaining the security of NATO airspace”NATO indicates its position.

Indeed, in May 2023, Russia indicated that one of its warplanes took off to meet two military aircraft, one French and one German, over the Baltic Sea. She accused them of wanting to “border violation” Russian. “Foreign military aircraft returned from the borders of the Russian state”The Russian Ministry of Defense welcomed the telegram.

The Russian intelligence service's objection this time comes in the context of tensions, after Emmanuel Macron's statement on the sidelines of a meeting of Ukraine's European allies in Paris. The French President did not rule out sending Western forces to Ukraine to support Kiev's forces in the face of the Russian invasion. The Kremlin spokesman warned that sending troops to Ukraine would not be the case “Not in the interest” Westerners. In response to a question about the risk of a direct conflict between NATO and Russia in the event of a military presence in Ukraine, Dmitry Peskov answered, saying: “In this case we should not talk about probability, but about inevitability.”.

*Mirage 2000 aircraft designed by Dassault Group, owner of Le Figaro newspaper