Lotnictwo Sił Zbrojnych Federacji Rosyjskiej jako instrument ochrony jej interesów w basenie Morza Bałtyckiego

The turn of the century marks a time of intensive changes occurring in the Russian Federation’s foreign policy, as well as in its Air Forces’ structures, tasks and equipment. In the light of events taking place on the international arena, it is vital, particularly from Poland’s perspective, what is Russia’s approach to the issue of protecting its interests in the Baltic Sea. Against this background, the author of the article leads a discussion aiming at determining the significance and method to employ the Russian Federation’s Air Forces to protect its interests in the Baltic Sea basing on Russian normative documents, functions that air force may perform in order to protect the interests of a given country and examples of Russian Air Forces’ activities.