German, Swedish jets track Russian plane flying over Baltic Sea

BERLIN — Air force fighter jets from Germany and Sweden were scrambled Sunday to intercept and track a Russian surveillance plane that was flying unidentified over the Baltic Sea, military officials said.

Two Swedish Gripen jets and two German Eurofighter jets deployed in international airspace to monitor and photograph the Russian IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft. It had been flying without providing a flight path or radio contact that could signal its presence, Swedish and German air force officials said.

The monitoring, which ended without incident, came as NATO and European Union member countries have been on heightened alert for Russian military and reconnaissance activities in and around their airspace.

On Friday, three Russian fighter aircraft entered Estonia’s airspace without perm