MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. A Russian Su-27 fighter jet was scrambled to intercept US and German patrol aircraft approaching the Russian border over the Baltic Sea, Russia’s National Defense Control Center reported on Friday.
According to the Center, Russian airspace control systems detected two aerial targets over the Baltic Sea approaching Russia’s state border.
"A Su-27 fighter from the Baltic Fleet’s air defense quick reaction alert forces was scrambled to intercept the targets. The crew of the Russian fighter approached the aerial targets at a safe distance, identified them as a US Air Force P-8A Poseidon and a German Air Force P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and escorted them over the Baltic Sea," the Center said.
The Russian border was not violated. After the US aircraft turned away from Russia’s state border, the Russian fighter safely returned to its home airfield.
"The entire flight of the Russian fighters proceeded in strict compliance with the international rules of using the airspace," the Center stressed.
Russian fighter jets were scrambled six times during the past week to prevent violations of Russia’s borders. According to the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, forty-three foreign reconnaissance planes and six reconnaissance drones were observed near Russian borders last week. All of them were traced by Russian radars.
Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov told a briefing on Friday after the completion of the Kavkaz-2020 military drills that the United States and other NATO nations had been conducting military activities some 20-30 kilometers off the Russian border and cited as an example flights of NATO planes and the presence of NATO naval forces in the Barents, Baltic, and Black seas.