Russian warplanes risking safety of European airliners, says Nato chief

Russia is placing civilian flights at risk by dispatching jet fighters and bombers into European airspace without following safety procedures, according to Nato’s secretary general.

Jens Stoltenberg told the Telegraph that Nato fighters had intercepted Russian military aircraft over 100 times so far this year, compared with 30 such incidents in 2013.

Russia’s long-range bombers and spy planes usually stay in international airspace, but they deliberately ignore safeguards designed to reduce the risk of collision with civilian flights. In particular, they switch off the “transponders” that allow aircraft to detect one another.

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