Russian Su-27 fighter escorts German patrol plane over Baltic Sea: MoD
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A Russian Su-27 fighter was tasked with preventing an R-3C Orion base patrol aircraft from violating Russia’s airspace.
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A Russian Su-27 fighter (Press Office of the Russian Defense Ministry)
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that a Russian Su-27 fighter jet escorted a German patrol plane over the Baltic Sea on Wednesday to make sure it does not enter Russia's airspace.
"On April 12, 2023, Russian airspace control detected an air target over the Baltic Sea that was approaching the airspace of the Russian Federation," the Ministry said in a statement.
It added that "a Su-27 fighter from the air defense forces of the Western Military District was tasked with identifying an air target and preventing the violation of Russia’s state border."
"The crew of the Russian fighter jet identified the air target as an R-3C Orion base patrol aircraft of the German navy," the statement highlighted.
According to the Ministry, the Russian jet escorted the German plane over the Baltic Sea and then safely returned to its base airfield.
"The flight of the Russian fighter was carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace over neutral waters without crossing air routes and dangerously approaching an aircraft of a foreign state," the statement concluded.
The incident echoed another that happened last month when two US strategic bombers B-52 were intercepted by a Russian fighter jet Su-35 from reaching the Russian border over the Baltic Sea.
'Reckless and unprofessional'
The interception came mere days after the US European Command issued a statement on March 14 saying that "a Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of a U.S. MQ-9 drone, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters."
The Command claimed that "several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner."
On its part, the Russian Defense Ministry denied US allegations and said its fighter jets did not come into contact with the US MQ-9 drone that crashed into the Black Sea earlier, pointing out that the drone crashed due to "sharp maneuvering".
The Ministry clarified that the airspace control of the Russian Aerospace Forces had recorded the flight of the US unmanned aerial vehicle MQ-9 over the Black Sea in the region of the Crimean peninsula in the direction of the Russian state border.
The flight of the drone "was carried out with transponders turned off, violating the boundaries of the area of the temporary regime for the use of airspace, established for the purpose of conducting a special military operation, communicated to all users of international airspace and published in accordance with international standards," the statement read.
Following the incident, the US State Department confirmed that it summoned Russia's Ambassador to protest the crash.
Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley revealed the next day that the US still does not know if the downing of a US drone over the Black Sea was intentional.
"So, was it intentional or not? Don't know yet. We know that the intercept was intentional. We know that the aggressive behavior was intentional. We also know it was very unprofessional and very unsafe," Milley said during a press briefing.
Read more: NATO countries launch joint Baltic air-naval exercises
