A Russian fighter jet has intercepted a Polish plane over the Black Sea that was used by the border protection agency Frontex. The Polish border guard spoke of a “dangerous manoeuvre”.
According to information from Warsaw, a Russian fighter jet has dangerously approached a Polish plane over the Black Sea. The Polish machine of the type “Let L-410” was already on a patrol flight for the EU border protection agency Frontex on Friday when it was intercepted by a Russian “Sukhoi Su-35”, the Polish border guard said.
The incident occurred in international airspace within the operational area designated by Romania. The Russian fighter plane carried out “aggressive and dangerous manoeuvres”. It had flown three times towards the border protection aircraft and had only approached about five meters.
The crew had apparently briefly lost control
The crew of the Polish machine temporarily lost control of the turboprop aircraft due to the turbulence that had been triggered, which had dropped in altitude, it said. It was only because of their excellent skills that the pilots could have landed safely, it said. Five people were on board – the two pilots and three border guards.
Romanian and Spanish aircraft were then put on “pre-alert” by NATO, the Romanian Defense Ministry said. “This incident is further evidence of the Russian Federation’s provocative actions in the Black Sea.”
Incident is not isolated
The Polish aircraft has been stationed in Romania since April 19 and is scheduled to remain there until May 17. It is part of a Frontex operation organized by Romania, in which Spain and Sweden are also involved.
Over the Black Sea, EU and NATO aircraft and Russian jets repeatedly approach each other – even before the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.