Surge in Russian Air Force flights in northern Europe is providing an opportunity for local air forces to take some interesting pictures of Moscow warplanes.

Russia has launched several missions flown over the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea region in the last few days.

Beginning on Dec. 6 and continuing through this week, Russian Air Force has been particularly busy in international airspace close to the Finnish airspace forcing the Finnish Air Force to scramble its F/A-18 Hornets and shadow Moscow’s warplanes.

Fortunately, the Finnish fighter pilots involved in these close encounters have taken some interesting pictures of the once rarer Russian heavy bombers and attack planes.

According to the Finnish air force, Tu-95s, Tu-22Ms, Su-34s, Su-27s, Su-24s and MiG-31s were intercepted by the Hornets in the last weeks.

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Image credit: Finnish Air Force

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