Russian jet in ‘provocative’ close encounter with US plane

US Navy says Russian fighter was just a few feet away from of US surveillance aircraft

300118-wd-russian-jet.jpg
A Russian military jet 
(Image credit: Getty Images/Stringer)

A Russian fighter jet reportedly flew within five feet of a US spy plane in international airspace over the Black Sea yesterday.

NBC News reports that the Sukhov SU-27 “crossed directly through” the flightpath of the American EP-3 Aires aircraft after tailing the US plane for more than two hours, “causing the EP-3 to fly through the SU-27’s jet wash”.

The Russian jet’s actions were “inexcusable, provocative and potentially fatal”, said CNN military analyst John Kirby. The US State Department accused the Russians of “flagrantly violating existing agreements and international law.”

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: “We call on Russia to cease these unsafe actions that increase the risk of miscalculation, danger to aircrew on both sides and mid-air collisions.”

But the Russian Defence Ministry has denied that the incident took place. “The entire flight of the Russian Su-27 was strictly in accordance with international rules for the use of airspace and there were no extraordinary events,” it said.

Explore More