Russian Su-33 violates Norwegian airspace near Vardø

On 18 August 2025, a Russian Su-33 carrier-based fighter jet briefly entered Norwegian airspace over the sea northeast of Vardø in Finnmark, remaining inside Norwegian territory for approximately one minute before exiting, according to the Norwegian government. The incident was the third of three Russian airspace violations Norway recorded in 2025. It followed a Su-24 fighter jet that crossed Norwegian airspace northeast of Vardø for about four minutes on 25 April, and an L-410 Turbolet aircraft that violated airspace over an uninhabited border area in eastern Finnmark for roughly three minutes on 24 July. These were Norway's first recorded Russian airspace violations in about a decade.

Norway did not publicly disclose the incidents until 23 September 2025, when it joined a NATO condemnation of recent Russian intrusions into Allied airspace, issued after the North Atlantic Council met at Estonia's request under Article 4 of the Washington Treaty. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said Russia had violated Norwegian airspace on three occasions that year and that, while the incidents were less serious than violations affecting Estonia, Poland and Romania in terms of location and duration, they remained unacceptable. The Norwegian government said it had raised all three violations directly with Russian authorities.

The Su-33 violation fits a pattern of Russian military aircraft briefly crossing into Allied airspace along NATO's northern and eastern flanks in 2025. Norwegian officials, including Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, said they could not determine whether the violations were deliberate or the result of navigational error, while stressing that Russia bears responsibility for avoiding such incidents. The short duration and location over open sea make this less severe than other 2025 violations, but the timing and frequency raised concerns about deliberate signalling. Attribution to Russian state aircraft is firm; intent remains unconfirmed and should be treated as hedged.