Russia claims it intercepted British warplanes approaching its Black Sea border amid simmering tensions between Moscow and the West over Ukraine invasion
- Planes involved were two British Typhoon jets and RC-135 aircraft
Two Russian fighter jets have been scrambled after British warplanes approached them over the Black Sea, Russia’s defence ministry has claimed.
A pair of Su-27 fighter jets are said to have intercepted three British military planes when they were approaching the Russian border.
‘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 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,’ said the ministry.
In a short clip released by the ministry, an RC-135 with the words ‘Royal Air Force’ written on the side can be seen.
Pictured is a British an RC-135 in areleased by Russia ‘s defence ministry
The ministry said the planes involved were two British Typhoon jets accompanied by an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft
It comes as the boss of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group re-emerged earlier today, two days after leading an aborted mutiny.
As tensions rise, Yevgeny Prigozhin said he had never intended to overthrow the government and giving few clues about his own fate or the deal under which he stood down, adding his fighters had halted their campaign in order to avert bloodshed.
‘We went as a demonstration of protest, not to overthrow the government of the country.
‘Our march showed many things we discussed earlier: the serious problems with security in the country,’ he said in an audio clip.
He said his goal had been to prevent his Wagner militia’s destruction, and to force accountability on commanders who had botched Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine. He claimed his fighters had not engaged in combat on the ground in Russia, and regretted having to shoot down Russian aircraft that had fired on them.
‘We halted at the moment when the first assault unit deployed its artillery (near Moscow), conducted reconnaissance and realised that a lot of blood would be spilled.’
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, looks out from a military vehicle on a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Saturday, June 24, 2023
Servicemen from private military company (PMC) Wagner Group ride a tank reading ‘Siberia’ on a street in downtown Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia, 24 June 2023
Prigozhin shocked the world by leading Saturday’s armed revolt, only to abruptly call it off as his fighters approached the capital having shot down several aircraft but meeting no resistance on the ground during a dash of nearly 800 km (500 miles).
Russia’s three main news agencies reported on Monday that a criminal case against Prigozhin had not been closed, an apparent reversal of an offer of immunity publicised as part of the deal that persuaded him to stand down.
US President Joe Biden said today that neither western nor NATO allies were involved in the short-lived insurrection in Russia by the Wagner Group, and warned Putin not to place the blame on them.
Biden, in his first public remarks on the attempted coup, said when he spoke with allies over the weekend on a zoom call they all agreed that ‘we had to make sure we gave Putin no excuse — we gave Putin no excuse — to blame this on the West or to blame this on NATO.’
‘We made clear that we were not involved. We had nothing to do with it. This was part of a struggle within Russian system,’ Biden said during remarks in the East Room of the White House.
There was no word about the revolt from Putin himself since Saturday, when he said the rebellion put Russia’s very existence under threat and vowed to punish those behind it.
Incidents involving Russian and Western aircraft have multiplied over the Black Sea and Baltic Sea in recent months, as Moscow pursues its offensive in Ukraine.
In May, Moscow said it had intercepted four American strategic bombers above the Baltic Sea in two separate incidents in the space of one week.
Russia also scrambled warplanes to intercept French, German, and Polish aircraft.
In April, an American Reaper MQ-9 military drone crashed in the Black Sea after a confrontation Washington blamed on two Russian fighter jets.
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