A Russian MiG-31 fighter jet manufactured an ‘unsafe close pass’ of an RAF spy airplane yesterday, Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said, after Moscow claimed the aircraft had infringed on its airspace.
The RAF spyplane was flying about the Norwegian and Barents seas on Monday on a flight route which took it near to Russian territory, but at no position did the British aircraft enter Russian sovereign airspace.
The MoD explained the RC-135 spy plane’s crew managed radio communications with Russian civilian air website traffic handle through its flight.
But Russia’s defence ministry refused to acknowledge what it observed as an ‘intrusion’ and scrambled the MiG-31, which it stated ‘drove the intruder out’.
‘We regard this motion as a deliberate provocation,’ the Kremlin declared, introducing that the Russian air pressure was instructed to ‘prevent the violation of the Russian border.’
‘All possible penalties of this deliberate provocation will lie fully with the British side,’ the ministry claimed in a assertion.
Russian MP Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the international committee of the Russian decrease residence of parliament and chief of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Occasion of Russia (LDPR), stated: ‘A reconnaissance aircraft violated Russia’s condition border close to Cape Svyatoy Nos…
‘It seems to be like those people who difficulty these types of absurd and provocative orders have neglected how a British destroyer intruded into Russia’s territorial waters to be stopped by our border guards.
‘I am confident that a reaction to any intrusions will be sufficiently harsh.’
Footage from Perm area of MiG-31BM and Su-34 scrambling and refueling utilised in Zvezda state TV’s report on the alleged interception of an RAF reconnaissance plane. Russia’s MiG-31BM fighter-interceptor, which it reported intercepted a Uk spy aircraft, is pictured here
The footage reveals the planes refuelling in an undisclosed spot. The Russian condition media presented no proof of the interception
Russian media channel share the route of RAF RC-135W aircraft, reportedly intercepted over the Barents Sea
Stock image: A British isles reconnaissance plane RC-135 is pictured above the Black Sea, photographed in December 2021
An MoD spokesperson meanwhile explained to MailOnline today: ‘A Russian MIG-31 jet conducted an unsafe near go of an RAF RC-135W Rivet Joint plane as it carried out a regimen procedure in worldwide airspace in excess of the Norwegian and Barents Seas on Monday 15 August.’
‘The British isles plane was in conversation with Russian civilian air traffic command and its crew operated in a protected and professional way.’
The MoD denied that the RAF plane ever entered Russian sovereign airspace, adding that the RAF plane later on returned securely to its foundation in the Uk.
Russia did not promptly demonstrate footage of the instant it alleged the RAF airplane flew into its airspace near to remote Cape Svyatoy Nos in Murmansk area.
Alternatively, it highlighted a video clip of an evidently unrelated MiG-31BM and Su-34 drill from Perm area.
Television news bulletins have been interrupted to flash the alleged British incursion on state Tv set channels.
Footage from Perm location of MiG-31BM and Su-34 scrambling and refuelling employed in Zvezda condition TV’s report on the alleged interception of an RAF reconnaissance plane
Vladimir Putin (pictured in Moscow) typically communicates by means of state-funded media these as Rossiya 1. The Television set station mentioned it scrambled a MiG-31BM fighter to pressure away an RAF spy aircraft which ‘illegally crossed Russia’s point out border in the Arctic’
Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile is introduced from the Russian guided missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov all through a take a look at in the White Sea, in this however graphic taken from movie launched Oct 7, 2020
Rossiya 1 channel introduced: ‘Now an urgent report from the Ministry of Defence. A British RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft violated the condition border of Russia around the Barents Sea.
‘Air defence crews on obligation detected an unfamiliar air focus on. A MiG-31BM fighter was scrambled to intercept it. Its crew drove the intruder out of our airspace in the region of Cape Svyatoy Nos.’
The RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft was described as a ‘radioelectronic warfare aircraft’ in the Russian media.
A map showed the purported route of the British plane to the Arctic from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.
The shoreline in Murmansk region consists of the headquarters of Russia’s Northern Fleet and key a number of military bases and facilities.
It also contains testing spots for Vladimir Putin’s hypersonic weapons.
Russian reviews stated it was unusual for NATO planes to ‘breach’ Russian air house.
Russia has formerly accused Britain of breaching its territory when this was disputed by the Uk Defence Ministry.
No concrete evidence of an aerial border breach was delivered by the Russians.
