A Russian Su-30SM2 fighter jet demonstratively flew near NATO's airspace, carrying cluster bombs and anti-ship missiles, The Caspian Post reports, citing foreign media.

At the end of January, Spanish EF-18M fighter jets, during a NATO mission to patrol the airspace of the Baltic States, intercepted a Russian aircraft armed with two Kh-31A anti-ship missiles and two RBK-500 cluster bombs.

At the same time, the Russian fighter jet did not have air-to-air missiles, which are intended for self-defense or attack.

'Overall, the use of combat weapons on Russian aircraft that carry out provocative maneuvers near NATO's airspace is an extremely rare occurrence,' notes the 'Militarny' website.

Experts from the publication emphasized that this practice had been maintained for a long time for the sake of minimizing escalation risks and a kind of 'caution'-so that the pilot would not panic and use weapons in a critical situation."