British fighters intercepted Russian planes near NATO borders twice in a week.

Over the past week, British fighters have intercepted Russian military aircraft approaching NATO airspace twice. Royal Air Force fighters were scrambled twice in less than 48 hours to protect the Alliance's airspace.

The first incident occurred on Tuesday, April 15, when two Typhoon fighters from the Malbork airbase (Poland) intercepted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea. Less than two days later, another pair of British fighters was sent to intercept an unidentified aircraft that had taken off from the Kaliningrad region, a Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania.

According to The Telegraph, this is the first instance of British aircraft participating in operation Chessman - a new NATO mission aimed at strengthening Europe’s air defense.