MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday it had scrambled an MIG-31 jet to intercept a Norwegian military plane over the Barents Sea near the two countries’ Arctic border, the second such incident in two days and the third this month.
In a statement, the ministry said the Norwegian plane had neared Russian airspace but then had moved away after the Russian jet approached.
Relations between Russia and Norway, a NATO member state which shares a short Arctic border with Russia, have deteriorated further since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Russia’s Defence Ministry had previously said it scrambled fighter jets to intercept Norwegian aircraft Aug. 14 and then again on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Gareth Jones)
