War in Ukraine: a French plane flying for NATO was targeted by the Russian army

A French navy plane, which was committed to NATO, was targeted by the Russian army on Wednesday January 15 while flying over the Baltic Sea. He was the victim of a “jamming attempt” and “designation by a fire control radar”, according to the French army. The plane was carrying out a surveillance flight as part of an Alliance deployment in response to damage to submarine cables of which Russia is suspected.

“The fact of ‘illuminating’ our aircraft operating in international waters with a radar reflects an aggressive action,” said the spokesperson for the army general staff, Colonel Guillaume Vernet. In military language, illumination describes the act of targeting an objective by radar. Such an initiative “is not exceptional in this area” and “means that Russia does not remain passive”, continues the soldier.

Risks of escalation

Russia “made its hostility known in a contained manner”, but “the professional behavior of the (French) crew made it possible to avoid any escalation” while continuing its mission, Colonel Vernet further declared. The Russian army had little interest in carrying out its threat because “an attack on a NATO plane could provoke a sudden and serious escalation with NATO,” he said.

The type of incident suffered by the French plane, “quite serious”, is “fairly widespread” and “well beyond the borders of Europe”, estimated American General Christopher Cavoli, commander of NATO forces in Europe, Thursday in Brussels.

The French Atlantic 2 plane took off from Brittany on Wednesday. He spent nearly 5 hours off the coast of Sweden and the Baltic countries, controlling around 200 vessels, mainly civilians. But no suspicious buildings were spotted.

Cable war

Several underwater telecommunications and power cables have been damaged in recent months in the Baltic Sea. European leaders and experts suspect acts of “hybrid warfare” orchestrated by Russia. On December 25, the EstLink 2 power cable, connecting Finland and Estonia, and four other telecommunications cables were damaged, just weeks after similar damage to two telecommunications cables in Swedish waters. The Eagle S, an oil tanker flying the flag of the Cook Islands which is said to be part of the Russian “ghost fleet”, is suspected of sabotaging these cables by the Finnish police, who invaded the ship then seized it for the needs of the ‘investigation.