The two Russian bombers were escorted by two Russian fighter planes. Swedish airspace was never violated by the Russian planes and the Swedish defense does not know what they did over the Baltic Sea.
– They are there to be able to bomb. Therefore we went up and met them, we marked that we see it. They were up there practicing, but it wasn’t something we had received any information about, says Dennis Hedström, head of the flight staff.
The expert: Russia wants to show presence
The former lieutenant colonel Jörgen Elfving believes that there can be two reasons for the Russian action.
– One is to show presence, because Russia’s strategic position in the Baltic Sea area has changed drastically through Sweden and Finland’s entry into NATO, says Elfving.
Since the Swedish and Finnish entry into NATO, the Baltic Sea has in some contexts been described as a “NATO internal sea”, something that, among others, the Russian embassy in Sweden reacted strongly to and which Russia claims it is not.
– It is probably something that you try to prove in different ways. This could be one way, says Elfving.
Might have wanted to test responsiveness
According to Jörgen Elfving, another possible purpose from the Russian side to carry out the flight could be to test the reaction capacity of different countries that can provide further knowledge before other actions.
– That is to say, you get an answer to who is reacting to the flight. Where and how to react and how to behave when identifying the Russian aircraft.
The Swedish Defense Forces state that it is not unusual for Swedish fighter aircraft to act in this way. Elfving also believes that the actions of the Russian bombers do not stand out.
– The bombers belong to the strategic bombers and carry out regular patrols in the airspace. Sometimes over the Baltic Sea but also over the Arctic Ocean and so on, says Elfving.
Can carry cruise robots
The Russian bombers were of the Tu-22 Backfire model, they were produced from the 1960s until the mid-90s.
– I have no information on how many they have, but my impression is that they are in a fairly limited number, but they can carry cruise robots but also conventional robots, says Elfving, who believes that we will see more similar incidents in the future.
– This is not an isolated phenomenon, but they will continue with Russia marking its presence in the Baltic Sea area in various ways, he says.