Russian and US aircraft have been engaged in a dangerous encounter over the Baltic Sea. The Russian Defense Ministry says its fighter jets have intercepted two US spy planes in separate incidents on a single day.
The ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that a Baltic Fleet Su-27 jet was scrambled on Monday to intercept a US RC-135 spy plane that was flying toward the Russian border.
“While being escorted, the RC-135 attempted to move closer towards the Russian interceptor, making a provocative turn towards the Su-27,” read the statement.
It said the pilot of the Russian jet “reacted to the RC-135 maneuver” and continued to escort it until the spy plane turned away from the Russian border.
The intercept occurred 40 kilometers from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
The ministry said that “in just 10 minutes [after the incident] another RC-135 entered the same zone and it was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 as well.”
The Pentagon had on Tuesday accused Russia of carrying out an “unsafe” intercept of a US jet over the Baltic Sea a day earlier. Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis accused the Russian pilot of flying too fast and having “poor control” over his jet. He claimed that the US aircraft “did nothing to provoke this behavior.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Fox New had reported that the Russian Su-27 jet, which had air-to-air missiles under its wings, approached the US plane “rapidly” and flew “erratically” within 1.5 meters of it.
US officials claimed that the American jet was on a “routine” mission over the Baltic Sea in international airspace.
The Russian Defense Ministry, however, said that, “All flights of Russian interceptors over international waters of the Baltic Sea are carried out strictly in accordance with international rules.”
Source: Websites
