The Russian Defense Ministry said the Swedish reconnaissance plane was conducting a flight over the Baltic Sea with its transponder switched off

MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. Russia's Su-27 fighter jet has intercepted a Swedish Gulfstream reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters on Thursday.

"An aerial target approaching Russia's state border was spotted by Russian airspace controls. An Su-27 fighter jet from the Air Force was employed to intercept the target," the defense ministry said.

The Russian fighter jet "approached the object at a safe distance, identified it as a Gulfstream reconnaissance plane from the Swedish Air Force that was conducting a flight with its transponder switched off," the defense ministry said adding that after that, the Swedish plane flew away from the Russian state border, while the Su-27 jet returned to its base.

The Russian military regularly make public the statistics of how often Russian fighter jets intercept or accompany foreign military aircraft near Russian borders. However, they usually do not specify the circumstances.