NATO reconnaissance aircraft spotted again near Russia's Kaliningrad Region

MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. A NATO reconnaissance aircraft was again spotted near the Kaliningrad Region, circling Russia’s exclave in the Baltic Sea, a source in an EU air traffic control service told TASS.

"A reconnaissance flight of the NATO-owned Bombardier ARTEMIS II was once again detected near the Kaliningrad Region, circling its territory," the source said. The aircraft is using airspace over Poland and Lithuania as well as sectors above the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea for its mission, he noted.

The reconnaissance plane, which is permanently based in Constanta, was last spotted near the Russian region last Friday. "Back then, it circled for several hours before returning to the base," the source continued. The Bombardier ARTEMIS II conducts its flights at an altitude of slightly over 10 km, or above air corridors open to civilian aircraft.

This was the first time the aircraft appeared in the skies this week. Last week, it was detected both near the Kaliningrad Region and over the neutral waters of the Black Sea. The Bombardier ARTEMIS II also conducted a mission over the central Baltic states as it turned near the Estonian coast of the Gulf of Finland.

Earlier on Tuesday, a source in the EU’s air traffic control services told TASS that a Swedish Air Force jet for signals and electronic intelligence (SIGINT/ELINT) missions has been spotted over the neutral waters of the Black Sea for the second day in a row.