Fighter jets scrambled in response to activities of Russian aircraft accounted over 78 percent of all missions in 2021, Nato said.
The military organisation said 290 of around 370 total missions were scrambled to intercept aircraft, mostly Russian warplanes in north-west Europe that were flying too close to airspace of member countries.
"Generally, intercepts occurred without incident as Nato planes take off to identify the approaching aircraft and escort it out of the area. Very few intercepted flights entered allied airspace," a statement from the 30-country US-led alliance said.
Nato intercept flights are a routine occurrence.
Most of the missions took place in the Baltic region around, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where the organisation has an air-policing operation.
Despite high tensions between Nato and Moscow over the activities of Russian armed forces near Ukraine’s borders in recent months, the number of Russia-linked intercepts decreased this year.
In 2020, Nato jets scrambled around 350 times in response to Russian planes.
More than 60 Nato jets are on round-the-clock alert across Europe to respond to things like unannounced military flights or civilian planes losing communication with air traffic controllers for any reason, which could range from technical problems to hijacking.
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