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NATO fighters identify two Russian Su-27 fighters operating from Kaliningrad over the Baltic Sea.

Also on 18 September 2026, NATO air-defence fighters conducted a separate interception of a Russian formation consisting of MiG-31, Su-35 and Tu-134 aircraft flying from mainland Russia toward Kaliningrad Oblast through international airspace. Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defence lists this response separately from the Su-35 sortie earlier that day, which supports recording the formation as an independent incident rather than combining the two events. All aircraft in the formation operated without active radar transponders, without filed flight plans and without radio communication with the regional air-traffic-control centre. Baltic Monitor likewise records the MiG-31/Su-35/Tu-134 group as the second Russian aviation event on 18 September.

Occurrence: 2026-09-18
Publication: 2026-09-18
First observed: 2026-10-05T14:29:15.028Z
Review status: Not assessed
Countries: EE, LT, LV
Updated: 2026-10-05T16:30:16.433Z

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NATO fighters identify two Russian Su-27 fighters operating from Kaliningrad over the Baltic Sea.

Role
discovery_lead

Date
2026-09-18T17:57:08Z

Also on 18 September 2026, NATO air-defence fighters conducted a separate interception of a Russian formation consisting of MiG-31, Su-35 and Tu-134 aircraft flying from mainland Russia toward Kaliningrad Oblast through international airspace. Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defence lists this response separately from the Su-35 sortie earlier that day, which supports recording the formation as an independent incident rather than combining the two events. All aircraft in the formation operated without active radar transponders, without filed flight plans and without radio communication with the regional air-traffic-control centre. Baltic Monitor likewise records the MiG-31/Su-35/Tu-134 group as the second Russian aviation event on 18 September.