French maritime patrol aircraft was target of Russian intimidation, minister says

A French maritime patrol aircraft was the target of Russian intimidation on Wednesday over the Baltic Sea, France's Defence Minister said on Friday.

The plane was patrolling in international airspace when it was locked onto by the radar of an S400 ground-to-air defence system, Sebastien Lecornu said. "This aggressive Russian action is unacceptable," he wrote on X.

NATO said in late December it would boost its presence in the Baltic Sea after the suspected sabotage of an undersea power cable and four internet cables.


The French aircraft was carrying out a NATO observation mission off Sweden, monitoring vessels as part of efforts to keep an eye on suspect ships.

"Our armed forces will continue to act to defend freedom of navigation in international air and maritime spaces," Lecornu said.

Baltic nations are on alert after a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.