A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter intercepted a Polish plane who was carrying out a mission for the European border agency (Frontex) in the Black Seawhich caused a temporary “loss of control” of the device, Warsaw said on Sunday.
As explained by the Polish border guards, the episode occurred on Friday. The Sukhoi entered without any prior radio contact “in the area of operations designated by Romania”, and carried out “aggressive and dangerous maneuvers, approaching the plane of the Polish border guards three times without the necessary safety distance”.
Consequently, the device a Turbolet L-410, suffered “significant turbulence”and the crew, made up of five people, including two pilots, “lost control of the plane and lost altitude”.
Polish border guards specified that the Russian fighter crossed their path at a distance of “about five meters”.
After the incident, the Polish aircraft was able to land correctly in Romania.
The Polish government spokesman, Piotr Muller, told the private channel Polsat News what happened was “a planned provocation by Russia.”
The incident was first reported by the Romanian authorities, who denounced the “aggressive” behavior of the Russian plane. The Romanian Defense Minister denounced the incident on Saturday as “new proof of Russia’s provocative approach in the Black Sea,” which also bathes Ukraine.
According to Bucharest, the Polish plane, which was not armed, was monitoring “the migratory risk” and was about 60 kilometers east of Romanian airspacein international airspace.
The Romanian and Spanish Air Forces prepared fighter jets to assist the intercepted plane, although it eventually managed to land safely at the NATO Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase, located near the Black Sea.
The aircraft has been deployed in Romania from April 19 to May 17 for an operation organized by Bucharest and coordinated by Frontex, in which Spain and Sweden also participate.
Russian planes have repeatedly approached EU and NATO planes over the Black Sea since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sometimes leading to dangerous situations. However, even before the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, incidents between Russian planes and aircraft from NATO countries multiplied.
Most of them occurred in the Baltic Sea, but also in the Black Sea and elsewhere.
(With information from AFP and EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com