Alwaght- Russia has said it intercepted a United States Air Force plane which was target rapidity approaching the Russian border, officials in Moscow have confirmed.
The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed intercepted the spy plane but denied the US Department of Defense accusations that the action was unprofessional.
“On April 14, air defense forces detected over the Baltic ocean an unidentified aerial target rapidity approaching the Russian border. A Su-27 fighter jet was deployed by the Baltic Fleet to identify the target,” said ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov.
“The flight of the Russian plane was in accordance with international standards for the use of airspace. No emergency situation occurred.”
Earlier, Danny Hernandez a spokesman for US army European Command claimed that during the interception, a Russian Su-27 "performed erratic and aggressive maneuvers," only 50 feet (15 meters) away from the US aircraft.
The US Boeing RC-135 aircraft was "intercepted by a Russian SU-27 in an unsafe and unprofessional manner," Hernandez said, stressing that the US jet never entered Russian airspace.
"The unsafe and unprofessional actions of a single pilot have the potential to unnecessarily escalated tensions between countries," he said.
The US Boeing RC-135 aircraft was "intercepted by a Russian SU-27 in an unsafe and unprofessional manner," Hernandez said, stressing that the US jet never entered Russian airspace.
A similar incident involving a US RC-135 spy plane and a Russian interceptor was reported in January over the Black Sea. At that time the Pentagon also complained that the Russian jet acted in an “unsafe and unprofessional manner.”
On April 14, Washington said that a Russian SU-24 and a Ka-27 Helix helicopter flew over the USS Donald Cook, a Navy destroyer that was conducting exercises with its NATO ally Poland in the Baltic Sea. The US called the encounter “aggressive flight maneuvers ...within close proximity of the ship.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the plane was flying over neutral waters and all the international regulations on the use of the neutral airspace had been met.
“While in operational proximity to the Russian naval base of the Baltic Fleet, the principle of freedom of navigation of the US destroyer does not negate the principle of freedom of aeronautics of the Russian aircraft,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday, as cited by TASS.
