A civilian plane flying from Tel Aviv to Moscow was forced to change course over the Black Sea to avoid a dangerous approach with a foreign reconnaissance aircraft. This was announced on December 4 by a source in the air traffic control services.
According to him, on the eve of one of the two reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea randomly crossed the established routes of civil aviation and approached the passenger Airbus flight Tel Aviv - Moscow.
"The crew reported the triggering of an alarm about a dangerous approach. The vertical distance between the planes was less than 20 meters. The dispatchers gave the command to the civilian aircraft to descend 500 meters and take a safer echelon," Interfax quoted the source as saying.
It is noted that the intruder aircraft did not respond to requests from the ground.
A day earlier it was reported that Russian airspace controls over the neutral waters of the Black Sea detected air targets approaching the border of the Russian Federation. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Su-27 and Su-30 fighters were lifted into the air to identify them and prevent violations of the border of the Russian Federation. It was noted that the crews of Russian fighter jets identified air targets as the RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft of the US Air Force and the CL-600 Artemis reconnaissance and targeting aircraft of the US Ground Forces and escorted them over the Black Sea. Violations of the border of the Russian Federation are not allowed, the ministry stressed.
Prior to that, on October 20, two Russian Su-30 fighters escorted four American aircraft over the Black Sea, two of which were US B—1B strategic bombers. As specified in the National Defense Control Center (NCSO), Russian radars detected targets approaching the borders of the Russian Federation over the Black Sea. After the reversal of foreign military aircraft, the Russian fighters returned safely to their home airfield.
On October 17, a MiG-31 fighter escorted a B-1B bomber of the US Air Force over the waters of the Sea of Japan, preventing a violation of the border. The flight of the Russian aircraft was carried out in strict accordance with the international rules for the use of airspace, the NCSO stressed.
