Two U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers were about to enter Russian airspace over the Baltic Sea when a Russian Su-27 fighter plane swooped in to intercept them. The Russian Ministry of Defence announced this on October 24.
Earlier that day, Russian aviation control identified two targets flying over the Baltic Sea and approaching the state border. To determine the identities of these targets, a Su-27 was sent into the air. It discovered that the targets were B-1B bombers from the United States Air Force.
The Russian Defence Ministry announced in its Telegram channel that when the Russian fighter aircraft got closer, the foreign strategic bombers moved away from the state border of the Russian Federation. In addition, the ministry stated that the Russian aircraft had returned to its airfield without incident and that there had been no violation of the state border of the Russian Federation.
On October 19, Russian fighter jets responded to an airspace violation over the Black Sea that was being committed by aircraft belonging to the British Royal Air Force. An RC-135 reconnaissance and electronic warfare plane and two Typhoon multirole fighters were among the successfully intercepted planes.
On October 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Russian Aerospace Forces would start conducting permanent airspace patrols over the Black Sea the next day. He mentioned that MiG-31 aircraft that were armed with hypersonic “Kinzhal” missiles would be deployed for these operations.
The Su-27 carried out its flight over neutral waters in a manner that was completely compliant with the international laws governing the use of airspace, said the Russian Defence Ministry.
