Russian fighter Su-27 escorted a French reconnaissance aircraft approaching the borders of Russia in the skies over the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
"The crew of the Russian fighter identified the aerial target as an Atlantic-2 reconnaissance aircraft of the French Air Force and escorted it over the Baltic Sea," the statement says.
In order to identify an air target and prevent violation of the state border of the Russian Federation, a Su-27 fighter from the duty forces of the naval aviation and air defense of the Baltic Fleet was scrambled.
The military noted that there was no violation of the Russian state border, adding that the flight of the Russian fighter was carried out in strict compliance with international regulations.
This comes after just on Tuesday, two Su-30 fighters took off to the air to prevent a Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft from illegally entering the Russian airspace over the Black Sea. Earlier, on June 23, Russia's Su-30SM fighter intercepted a US reconnaissance aircraft over the Sea of Okhotsk, preventing the violation of the state border.