Russia has reported that a Russian jet intercepted an airspace violation by a German and a French patrol plane that it claimed was approaching the Russian state border over the Baltic Sea. Berlin and Paris have not yet responded to the allegation.
The Russian Defense Ministry said a fighter jet was scrambled to intercept the French and German patrol planes entering its airspace over the Baltic Sea after they were spotted flying towards the Russian border.
The flights were carried out by a German P-3C and a French Atlantic-2 maritime patrol aircraft, Moscow said.
The Russian Su-27 jet returned to its home base after taking off and driving the French and German planes away from Russian airspace, the Defense Ministry said.
Russia’s claims have not yet been confirmed by independent sources, while German, French and NATO authorities have not responded to questions about Moscow’s accusation.
Russia had recently announced that it had shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone flying reconnaissance over the Black Sea.
The incident was confirmed by the US and NATO.
