The United Kingdom has applied for a reconnaissance aircraft to fly above Russian Federation territory, the Russian Defense Ministry stated on Tuesday, stressing that the Russian Aerospace Forces have been entrusted with preventing any border breaches.

"The UK has filed an application with a flight plan for the flight of a UK reconnaissance aircraft RC-135 along a route that also runs over the territory of the Russian Federation. We consider this action as a deliberate provocation," the Ministry said.

The Russian Aerospace Forces have been charged with preventing violations of Russian airspace, the statement said.

In this context, the Ministry emphasized that the UK will bear all responsibility for any consequences of this action which it slammed as a "deliberate provocation".

Yesterday, Russia accused a British reconnaissance plane of violating Russia's state border, after the air defense forces on duty over the Barents Sea detected an unknown air target over the area of Cape Svyatoy Nos, according to the Russian MoD.

“The aircraft violated the state border of the Russian Federation in the area of Cape Svyatoy Nos,” the short note by the Defense Ministry said.

A British RC-135 with equipment to collect real-time electronic intelligence data was forced out of Russian airspace by a MiG-31, the Ministry announced.

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