Russian Jet Dangerously Intercepts U.S. Warplane over Black Sea

(Mirror Daily, United States) – After a Russian military plane unsafely intercepted a U.S. warplane flying above the Black Sea, Moscow told the Pentagon that the U.S. military had “no business” in the region.

According to initial reports, a Russian Su-30 plane intercepted a U.S. P-8A Poseidon flying near national waters. Russia shares the Black Sea with three NATO and U.S. allies: Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria, the latter two having broken off of the Soviet bloc in 1989.

Military experts said that the latest incident was a close call. It is not the first time one such incident leads to a tense encounter between Russia and the United States. The relations between the two superpowers soured in 2014, with the annexation of Crimea.

According to the U.S. Defense Department, the Russian fighter jet was incredibly aggressive while in international airspace. Even though the U.S. war plane had the transponders on, the Russian pilot reportedly arrived in front of the U.S. plane, which caused “violent turbulence” to the latter. The U.S. jet’s afterburners were slightly damaged in the encounter.

The Russian army has not issued an official response but Russian TV networks debunked claims that the Russian airplane was at fault. One of the Rossiya 24 commenters said Moscow’s aircraft “spoiled the plans of the American reconnaissance jet.”

Retired officers agreed on state TV that the Russian airplane did the right thing and that the U.S. warplane had to leave.

“Americans have nothing to do in the Black Sea. This is an enclosed sea,”

former deputy commander Nikolay Antoshkin told RIA Novosti.

The retired officer also complained that during Soviet times, no one dared to fly freely above the Black Sea. Turkey now pushes for NATO forces to move to the Black Sea to prevent the Russians from acting as if the sea is a “Russian lake”.
Image Source: Pixabay

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John Birks

John holds a diploma in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He covers the technology, social media, green business, eco-travel, politics, arts culture.