UPDATE - Russia says it sent fighter jet to ‘prevent border violation’ by US planes

UPDATES WITH DEFENSE MINISTRY STATEMENT ON ANOTHER INCIDENT

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia said it sent a Su-27 fighter jet to “prevent a violation of the State border” by two US strategic bombers B-1 flying over the Baltic Sea.

In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said that two aerial targets approaching the Russian border were detected on the radars and the Su-27 from the duty air forces was scrambled to identify them.

“The Russian fighter jet identified the air targets as two B-1B strategic bombers of the U.S. Air Force.

“As the Russian fighter jet approached, foreign strategic bombers made a U-turn away from the State border of the Russian Federation,” it added.

The ministry said that the flight of the Russian fighter jet was carried out in “strict compliance with international rules on the use of airspace over international waters with adherence to safety measures.”

In a separate statement, the ministry reported another incident that occurred over the Black Sea.

It said a Su-27 fighter jet was scrambled to turn away an aerial target identified as a US RQ-4B Global Hawk reconnaissance drone.