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Russian Su-27 fighter shadows US bomber over Black Sea near Russia’s borders

The Russian fighter jet shadowed a US Air Force B-52H bomber on October 19

Su-27 fighter jet Marina Lystseva/TASS

Su-27 fighter jet

© Marina Lystseva/TASS

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/. A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet of Russia’s Aerospace Force shadowed a US Air Force B-52H bomber on October 19, which flew near the Russian borders over the Black Sea, the Defense Ministry of Russia announced on Wednesday.

Russia’s airspace control systems spotted and started to track the US Air Force B-52H strategic bomber as it was approaching the Black Sea, the ministry said.

"After it approached the state border of Russia, the bomber was encountered by a Russian Su-27 fighter from the alert air defense forces of the Southern Military District and was shadowed by it throughout its flight along the border of Russia’s territorial waters at a distance of about 70 km from it," the ministry said in a statement.

The Su-27 fighter returned to its home aerodrome in Crimea after accomplishing its assignment, the statement says.

The US European Command said in a press release on Tuesday that a B-52 aircraft had returned from an extended duration flight in the Black Sea region. The flight, which lasted approximately 12 hours, "included training with Romania, Ukraine and Georgia bordering the Black Sea," it said.

According to the PlaneRadar monitoring web portal, the B-52H strategic bomber with tail No. 61-0010 approached Crimea in the evening of October 19. The web portal characterized the maneuvers of the US bomber as a "bombing simulation."

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