F-35 Survives Close Encounter with Russian Jet Over NATO Lake: Video

A video published to X (formerly Twitter) on January 10 seemingly shows an Italian F-35 surviving a close encounter with a Russian jet flying over a NATO area.

The video, filmed from the perspective of the Russian pilot, shows the Russian plane flying very closely to the Italian F-35. Throughout the 38-second video the Russian plane appears to be getting closer to the Italian.

Whether this was the pilot zooming in on their camera, or them flying dangerously close, is unclear.

The origins and original date of the video could not be independently verified by Newsweek.

Why It Matters

The video appears to show the Russian plane flying over the Baltic Sea, a body of water between several NATO countries.

Italy is also a NATO country, so any serious provocation between Russia and these states could further escalate tensions between the alliance and Moscow.

The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Russian Foreign Ministry have been contacted for comment.

What To Know

This week Russia enacted strikes on Kyiv while British Prime Minister Kier Starmer and Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, both NATO members, were visiting the city.

Kier Giles, a Russia expert at Chatham House, spoke to Newsweek on January 16 about Russia’s capacity to implement mass casualties on NATO countries and populations, following Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s warning that Russia has been planning global sabotage attacks.

This comes at the same time as Putin allies have been pushing for a “land corridor” between Russia and their Baltic outpost of Kaliningrad, which sits between Poland and Lithuania.

This corridor would require Russia to gain land control of portions of Poland and Lithuania, which neither country has agreed to.

The U.S. currently contributes the largest share of NATO’s annual budget. However, President-elect Donald Trump has said he will not send in US troops to protect NATO countries who have not “paid their bills,” despite the NATO alliance relying on all NATO countries defending each other if they are attacked by Russia.

What People Are Saying

Regarding fears of a Russian terror attack, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: “I will not go into details, I can only confirm the validity of fears that Russia was planning acts of air terror, not only against Poland, but against airlines around the world.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “In general, this is another absolutely unsubstantiated accusation against Russia. Poland is well known for such unsubstantiated accusations. It often even tries to maintain leadership in this area compared to other European countries.”

What Happens Next

Trump has said that he will push for a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire in 2025, however it is unclear at the moment what this will look like, and experts fear that it may be a temporary pause in a larger and more prolonged war.