NATO jets intercepted a unique Russian Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft—nicknamed “Black Pearl” by Western security experts—over the Baltics earlier this month.
In a statement, NATO Allied Air Command said Italian Eurofighter Typhoons stationed at Ämari Air Base in Estonia as part of an airspace policing mission intercepted several Russian military aircraft and escorted them out of the area. Among the Russian assets was the Black Pearl, which is a Tu-134UBL, a military variant of the Tu-134 passenger aircraft.
