Russian jets escort UK reconnaissance aircraft over Black Sea

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
27 Jun 2023 00:26
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The Russian Defense Ministry's National Defense Control Center states that radars identified three air targets nearing the Russian state border over the Black Sea.

A Russian Su-27 carried out a planned mission off the coast of Crimea. (WikiCommons)

The Russian Defense Ministry's National Defense Control Center stated that two Russian Su-27 fighter jets escorted an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft and two multi-purpose Typhoon fighters of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force (RAF) over the Black Sea on Monday.

Radars identified three air targets nearing the Russian state border over the Black Sea, according to the center. The Su-27 fighter jet was launched to prevent foreign planes from entering Russian airspace.

The air targets were identified as an RC-135 electronic warfare and reconnaissance aircraft and two RAF Typhoon multifunctional fighters by the Su-27.

"When approaching Russian fighters, foreign military aircraft performed a U-turn from the state border of the Russian Federation," the defense ministry said.

Earlier this month, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on June 11 that Russian forces thwarted an attempt by Ukrainian forces to attack the Black Sea Fleet’s ship Priazovye, which monitors the Turkish Stream and Blue Stream gas pipelines in the Black Sea.

In a statement, the Defense Ministry mentioned that "today, at about 1:30 p.m. Moscow time, Ukrainian armed formations made an unsuccessful attempt with six fast-speed unmanned sea boats" to attack the ship. "In repulsing the attack, all the boats were destroyed by the Russian naval ship’s standard weapons 300 km southeast of Sevastopol," the statement indicated.

According to the Russian Ministry, no casualties were reported as a result of the attempted attack, as the Black Sea Fleet’s ship Priazovye continues its assigned tasks. "There are no casualties. The ship has not sustained any damage. The Black Sea Fleet’s ship Priazovye continues accomplishing assigned missions," the statement read.