A British reconnaissance aircraft accompanied by two fighters approached Russian territorial waters near Crimea on Thursday, but turned back after a Russian jet flew to intercept them, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has claimed.
According to the Russian military, three aerial targets were detected approaching the border. A Su-27 fighter dispatched to deal with the threat identified them as a RC-135 spy plane and a pair of Eurofighter Typhoons, all belonging to the UK Royal Air Force (RAF).
“As the Russian fighter approached, foreign military aircraft made a turn from the border of the Russian Federation,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
No violation of Russian airspace occurred and the Su-27 returned to base safely. The intercept was carried out “in strict accordance” with international rules governing neutral waters, the ministry added.
Several Telegram channels identified the potential offender as the RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft, based out of RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. Its escorts were identified as Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 Mark IV fighters.
This was the second such intercept in two days. Before that, the last time Russian warplanes had to fend off a RAF spy flight was last October.
British spy planes ramped up their activity in the Black Sea in June 2021, just days before a Royal Navy frigate attempted to sail past Crimea in Russian territorial wars. According to the government in London, the HMS Defender was on a “freedom of navigation patrol” from Odessa to Batumi in Georgia.
The Russian navy had fired warning shots at the British frigate and dropped bombs from an airplane in its path. London initially denied that this happened, until Moscow released videos proving its case.
Four days after the incident, classified documents discovered at a bus stop in Kent showed that the Royal Navy deliberately sent the Defender into Russian waters to provoke a reaction.