Russian military intercepts 2 US planes over Black Sea
The Russian military says it has intercepted two US military planes as they were heading toward Russian airspace over the Black Sea.
Russia’s National Defense Management Center said in a statement on Wednesday that a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet was scrambled to intercept the two US aircraft earlier in the day after they were detected on radar over the neutral waters of the Black Sea.
“The Russian aircraft approached both planes at a safe distance and identified them as an RC-135 reconnaissance plane of the US Air Force and a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol plane of the US Navy,” it said.
A similar incident occurred on August 5, when a Russian Su-27 fighter jet intercepted a US Air Force RC-135 strategic reconnaissance plane and a US Navy R-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft over the Black Sea as they were approaching the Russian border.
For the past several weeks, Russian airspace control systems have been detecting numerous aircraft heading toward the Russian border over the neutral waters of the Black Sea, according to Russia’s Sputnik news agency.
American bombers and spy planes, as well as NATO aircraft, have frequently been detected near Russia’s borders.
The provocative flights have particularly increased in frequency since 2014, when the then-Ukrainian territory of Crimea joined Russia following a referendum and when a military conflict erupted in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly expressed concern about the increasing activities of the US-led NATO forces near its western borders.
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