MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has begun military exercises in its Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad in what the Defence Ministry said was a response to drills by NATO allies in parts of eastern Europe that were launched after Moscow's intervention in Ukraine.
In a further sign of friction between Russia and NATO, Latvia said on Thursday that NATO fighters that carry out air patrols over the Baltics scrambled a record four times on Thursday after a total of 16 Russian military planes were spotted close to Latvia’s air space.