‘Russia’s surveillance plane violates Swedish air space’

A Russian reconnaissance aircraft violated Swedish air space on Friday, according to Swedish public broadcaster SVT.

It claimed that a Russian plane violated Swedish airspace in Blekinge county on the southern coast of Sweden.

Swedish fighter planes scrambled and photographed the plane, the report said quoted the Swedish military officials.

The plane was in Swedish airspace for a short period, the military added, according to the report.

Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist described the incident as "unacceptable," the SVT reported.

Last month, the Swedish air force reported that four Russian fighter jets violated the Swedish airspace by flying above the Island of Gotland.

The Swedish Defense Ministry announced in January that it was increasing its visible activities on Gotland Island in the Baltic Sea because of growing tension between NATO and Russia concerning Ukraine.

At least 2,899 civilians have been killed and 3,235 others injured in Ukraine since the war started on Feb. 24, according to UN estimates.

The true toll is feared to be much higher.

More than 5.4 million people have fled to other countries, with some 7.7 million people internally displaced, data from the UN refugee agency shows.