Two British fighter jets have flown their first defence mission over Poland after a Russian drone incursion into the country’s skies.
According to Sky News, the flight was part of NATO's operation "Eastern Sentry", launched to bolster Europe's eastern flank after Poland shot down Russian drones earlier this month.
A Russian drone was intercepted flying over Romania days later, while three Russian jets entered Estonian airspace without permission for 12 minutes on Friday.
The three incursions into NATO airspace fuelled concerns about the potential expansion of Russia's three-year war in Ukraine and have been seen as an attempt by Moscow to test the military alliance's response.
The incident over Poland prompted its prime minister, Donald Tusk, to warn that his country was the closest to "open conflict" it had been since the Second World War, while the UK announced it would provide Warsaw with extra air cover.
Two RAF Typhoons, supported by an RAF Voyager air-to-air refuelling plane, took off from RAF Coningsby, in Lincolnshire, on Friday night to defend Poland's skies before returning safely early on Saturday morning.
