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US spy plane E-8C spotted 35 km away from Russia’s border, says Defense Ministry

The aircraft was detected on Tuesday, its flight lasted from 02:15 pm to 07:28 pm local time
US E-8C reconnaissance aircraft AP Photo/Koji Ueda, archive
US E-8C reconnaissance aircraft
© AP Photo/Koji Ueda, archive

MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS/. A US E-8C reconnaissance aircraft that took off from Germany’s USAF Ramstein Air Base was spotted 35 kilometers away from Russia's border, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

"A US E-8C plane that took off from the Ramstein Air Base in Germany kept circling above the northwestern, central and northeastern parts of the Black Sea for five hours and 13 minutes at altitudes ranging from 7,000 to 10,000 meters. It came as close as 35 kilometers from the Russian border," the statement reads.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the aircraft was detected on Tuesday, its flight lasted from 02:15 pm to 07:28 pm local time. The ministry pointed out that the Russian Aerospace Forces' anti-aircraft missile troops had been tracking the US plane via radar systems for the entire duration of its flight.

The Russian Defense Ministry earlier issued a statement saying that the United States sought to set up a multinational group of armed forces in close proximity of the Russian border. The ministry pointed out that US warships had arrived in the Black Sea region to take part in multinational drills led by the United States European Command. According to Moscow, the guided-missile destroyer USS Porter, the USNS John Lenthall tanker and the USS Mount Whitney command ship are currently stationed in the region. The Russian Defense Ministry emphasized that the goal of the United States' unexpected activities was to establish multinational forces in the vicinity of the Russian border.

The statement also said that such actions were a factor of regional instability, particularly aimed at using Ukraine's territory for military purposes. The Russian Defense Ministry noted that Russia's Armed Forces were engaged in continuous monitoring, keeping an eye on the situation.