A Boeing P-8 Poseidon, a military aircraft developed for the United States Navy conducted a reconnaissance flight in the Kerch Strait and Crimea on 27 November, monitoring portal PlaneRadar reported on Twitter.
The aircraft with tail number 168848 is part of the VP-26 Tridents and are a United States Navy aircraft squadron. The plane approached the coastline of the peninsula at a distance of 31 kilometres.
— PlaneRadar (@ua4wiy_) 27 ноября 2018 г.
The Russian Defence Ministry has repeatedly called on Washington to abandon such operations, but the Pentagon has refused.
— PlaneRadar (@ua4wiy_) 27 ноября 2018 г.
The Boeing P-8 Poseidon is an anti-submarine patrol aircraft designed to detect and destroy enemy submarines in areas of patrol, reconnaissance, participation in anti-ship and rescue operations.
READ MORE: Poroshenko Ignited Kerch Row to Bolster Image as Ukraine's ‘Protector'
The incident comes just days after three Ukrainian ships crossed the Russian maritime border. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that the vessels had sailed toward the Kerch Strait, an entrance to the Sea of Azov, where the ships were seized by Russia due to the lack of reply to a lawful demand to stop.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has described the Ukrainian vessels' actions as a provocation committed in violation of international law.
