A NATO military plane on Wednesday approached the plane of Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu above the Baltic Sea, Russian news agencies reported, the third such encounter in three days.
A NATO fighter jet tried to approach Shoigu’s plane but a Russian escort plane intervened to defend it, Interfax news agency reported, citing journalists accompanying the Minister.
The escort plane, a Sukhoi SU-27, demonstrated it was armed by rocking its wings, after which the NATO plane flew off, Interfax reported. Russian state television aired defence ministry footage of the incident, reporting that it took place over neutral waters.
NATO and national air forces decided to monitor flights after last week tracking “an unusually large number of Russian military aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea,” a NATO spokesman said in a statement sent to AFP.
NATO insisted the crew’s actions were “routine” to identify the plane while “maintaining a safe distance at all times” and then break away.