Finland’s Air Force announced that its defensive fighter jets and those of Sweden took off on Thursday, the second of Mehr, to conduct reconnaissance of a Russian military flight group in the international airspace over the Gulf of Finland.

This is the first joint reconnaissance operation between the air forces of Sweden and Finland. In this operation, the air forces of the two countries identified a transport aircraft and several Russian fighter jets.

Finland’s Air Force said that the mission was carried out under the guidance of its Air Operations Centre and within the framework of joint cooperation between Finland and Sweden to monitor and protect territorial integrity.

Finland and Sweden, respectively in 2023 and 2024, joined NATO despite Russia’s strong opposition.