MOSCOW, November 9. /TASS/. The US-registered NATO Bombardier ARTEMIS II reconnaissance aircraft has been spotted near the Kaliningrad Region 69 times since the start of this year and is currently making its 70th flight there, a source in air traffic control services told TASS.
"The Bombardier ARTEMIS II reconnaissance aircraft has been spotted near the Kaliningrad Region again and has begun circling it. This is its 70th flight since the start of the year," the source said. The aircraft is flying at an altitude of about 10 km, using Polish and Lithuanian airspace as well as areas over international waters in the Baltic Sea, the source noted.
According to him, the aircraft's first flight near the Russian region this year was recorded on January 2. "It was spotted in the area most frequently in March, with eight flights. Bombardier ARTEMIS II flew around the Kaliningrad Region least frequently in February, May and June, when five flights were recorded each month," the source continued. Since the start of November, the source noted, the aircraft has already appeared near the Kaliningrad Region four times, with flights around the region lasting between one and four hours. "Today's flight is the fifth since the start of November," the source added.
Bombardier ARTEMIS II, permanently based at an airfield in Constanta, Romania, generally operates along several routes. In addition to flying around the Kaliningrad Region, it also flies over international waters in the southern Black Sea, over central parts of the Baltic states, turning near Estonia's Gulf of Finland coast, and in the Mediterranean area.