wo Russian Su-27 fighter jets intercepted three British military aircraft heading over the Black Sea towards the Russian border on Monday, the Russian Defence Ministry has claimed.
According to the ministry, the intercepted planes were an RC-135 reconnaissance and electronic warfare plane and two Typhoon fighter jets.
“When approached by Russian fighters, the foreign military aircraft turned back from the state border of the Russian Federation,” the ministry said.
The ministry said the planes involved were 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,” the ministry added.
The UK Ministry of Defence has yet to comment on the claim.
Last month, Moscow claimed to have intercepted four US strategic bombers in the Baltic in two separate incidents.
And earlier this month, RAF Typhoons intercepted three Russian Air Force Jets flying close to Nato airspace.
It comes just two days after Russia was plunged into crisis when Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin launched an alleged mutiny against President Vladimir Putin.
Wagner forces left Ukraine and began to move hundreds of miles towards Moscow on a “march for justice”. It followed a bitter, long-running feud between Mr Prigozhin and Russia’s military brass.
Mr Prigozhin later agreed to halt the march towards the capital under a deal brokered by Belaruasian president Alexander Lukashenko.
In an audio statement issued on Monday evening, Mr Prigozhin denied trying to attack the Russian state and said he acted in response to an attack on his force that killed some 30 of his fighters.
He also taunted the Russian military, calling his march a “master class” on how it should have carried out the invasion of Ukraine. He mocked the Russian military for failing to protect the country, pointing out security breaches that allowed Wagner to march 780km without facing resistance and block all military units on its
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that Mr Prigozhin had publicly destroyed Putin’s case for the war in Ukraine and that the march was an “unprecedented challenge” to the President’s authority.
