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Russia’s Su-27 fighters scrambled to intercept US spy aircraft over Black Sea

No violations of the Russian state border were allowed, according to the National Defense Control Center
Su-27 fighter jet Marina Lystseva/TASS
Su-27 fighter jet
© Marina Lystseva/TASS

MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. Sukhoi Su-27 fighters were scrambled to intercept a US Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol plane and a US Air Force RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft over the neutral waters of the Black Sea, Russia’s National Defense Control Center reported on Monday.

"On June 29, 2020, the air defense quick reaction alert forces of the Southern Military District detected and started tracking a US Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol plane and a US Air Force RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft over the neutral waters of the Black Sea," the Center said in a statement.

"Su-27 fighter jets from the Southern Military District’s air defense quick reaction alert forces were scrambled to intercept the targets," according to the statement.

"No violations of the Russian state border were allowed," the National Defense Control Center stressed.

The US military planes were continuously tracked by Russian radars at a considerable distance from the state border of Russia, the statement says.

"The Russian aircraft performed the flights in strict compliance with the international rules of using the airspace over the neutral waters, without violating the borders of other states," the National Center said.

The Russian pilots have been regularly intercepting US planes approaching Russia’s borders lately. In particular, a Su-30 fighter of the Black Sea Fleet’s naval aviation was scrambled on June 26 to intercept a US Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol plane, an RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft and a KC-135 aerial refueling tanker of the US Air Force.