In May, NATO jets were scrambled four times to identify and escort Russian aircraft violating flight rules in the Baltic and it was reported that Polish fighter jets intercepted a Russian Su-24 bomber in international airspace over the region.

A Ukrainian F-16 supersonic fighter supplied by the West was shot down with the loss of a “hero” pilot amid a desperate operation to counter 500-plus strikes by Vladimir Putin’s forces

The air force said 436 drones and 38 missiles were downed by air defenses, with the help of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets whose pilots shot down "dozens" of attack drones. "The work of Ukrainian fighters is extremely dangerous," it said.