Russia claims it scrambled fighter jets after intercepting two British warplanes near border

Russia's defence ministry released a statement on Monday saying that it had dashed fighter jets after it intercepted two British warplanes approaching its border above the Black Sea.

"As the Russian fighter jets approached, the foreign warplanes turned around and distanced themselves from the Russian border," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry added that the planes it chased awaywere two British Typhoon jets accompanied by an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft.

"The Russian planes safely returned to their airfield. There was no violation of the Russian border," said the ministry.

As Moscow continues its offensive in Ukraine, the incidents involving Russian and Western aircraft have increased over the Black Sea and Baltic Sea.

Russia scrambles Su-27 to intercept two US military jets over Baltic Sea

Earlier, in the month of May, Russia claimed to have scrambled a Su-27 fighter jet to "prevent violations of the state border" by two US Air Force strategic bombers flying over the Baltic Sea.

The Russian defence ministry said, "After removing the foreign military aircraft from the Russian state border, the Russian fighter went back to its air base."

The defence ministry claimed that the two aircraft were B-1 strategic bombers belonging to the US Air Force. According to the statement, the army prevented the violation of the border.

The ministry added, "The flight of the Russian fighter was carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace."

Russian jet collides with US drone

In the month of March, a major incident took place after an American drone crashed after colliding with a Russian jet over the Black Sea.

The US military said that a Russian Su-27 fighter jet downed an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, and called it a "reckless" incident.

A video was released by the Pentagon, which showed the Russian military jet coming very close to a US military drone and dumping fuel near it. The US said that the Russian aircraft damaged the propeller during the intercept.

The Pentagon said that the de-classified video, which is about 40 seconds long, has been edited by the US military for length but shows events in sequential order.

Meanwhile, Russia denied the accusations levelled by the US that its jets acted recklessly. Moscow said that the drone crashed after making "sharp manoeuvres," having "provocatively" flown close to Russian air space near Crimea.

A ministry statement had said that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told his US counterpart that the American drone flights near Crimea's coast "were provocative in nature" and could lead to "an escalation in the Black Sea zone."

(With inputs from agencies)

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