MOSCOW: Russian defense ministry said Tuesday that it had scrambled a fighter jet to intercept three French aircraft over the Black Sea to prevent a potential violation of its state border.
The incident occurred amidst ongoing tensions between Russia and Western nations, even predating Russia’s offensive in Ukraine in 2022.
According to the Russian defense ministry, a Su-27 fighter aircraft was deployed to address the situation. The crew identified the presence of an “E-3F long-range radar aircraft and two Rafale-S multirole fighters” belonging to the French Air Force in the vicinity of the Black Sea.
As the Russian fighters approached, the foreign military aircraft altered their course away from the borders of the Russian Federation, averting any recorded breach of the border, the ministry stated.
This episode is just one in a series of similar incidents that have transpired over the Black Sea in recent times, reflecting the heightened tensions in the region.
In a notable event from March 2023, tensions escalated between Moscow and Washington when a US Reaper drone crashed following a collision with a Russian fighter jet over the Black Sea.
