MOSCOW: Russia stated on Sunday (Jul 21) that it scrambled fighter jets o stop two US strategic bomber planes from crossing its border over the Barents Sea within the Arctic.
The US navy routinely carries out flights over worldwide waters, operations that it says are performed in impartial airspace and in accordance with worldwide legislation.
However Moscow has responded extra aggressively to the workout routines in latest months, warning in June that US drone flights over the Black Sea risked resulting in a “direct” navy conflict.
The Russian defence ministry stated it had scrambled fighter jets to intercept an “air goal approaching the state border of the Russian Federation”.
“The crews of the Russian fighters recognized the aerial goal as a pair of US Air Power B-52H strategic bombers,” it stated.
“Because the Russian fighters approached, the American strategic bombers corrected their flight course, shifting away after which turning away from Russia’s state border,” it stated.
In June, Moscow accused america of utilizing its reconnaissance drone flights over impartial waters within the Black Sea to assist Ukraine strike the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.
It stated that the flights elevated the chance of a “direct confrontation” between NATO and Russia, and that its military had been instructed to organize an “operational response”.