Moscow: The Russian Defence Ministry pointed on Thursday to an increase in US and NATO military activities in the Black Sea region and qualified unscheduled drills close to the Russian border as aggression that threatens regional stability.
“The Russian Defence Ministry records an increase in the military activity of the United States and its NATO allies in the Black Sea region,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Russian military specified that it was recording a particularly significant increase in the activities of naval forces, strategic aviation and reconnaissance. The ministry described the unscheduled drills as as “aggressive US actions posing a threat to regional security and strategic stability.”
Over the past 24 hours, four NATO reconnaissance planes were detected and escorted by the Russian anti-aircraft missile forces, the ministry noted.
U-2S and RC-135 reconnaissance planes and two P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft performed flights over the northwestern and central parts of the Black Sea. In addition, the UK air force’s RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft “tried to approach the state border of the Russian Federation in southwestern part of the Crimean Peninsula,” the Russian Defense Ministry said. A Su-30 fighter was scrambled to escort it, and the UK plane changed course.
