​The Ministry of Defense reports that a Polish Border Police plane was intercepted over the Black Sea, 60 km from Romanian airspace, by a Russian fighter jet, and the Polish crew managed to right the plane and landed safely at Mykhailo Kogelnicianu Airport, with none of the crew members injured.

In a statement released on Saturday evening, the Ministry of National Defense (MApN) reports that “on Friday, May 5, an aircraft of the L410 TURBOLET type of the Polish Border Police, which was carrying out patrol missions in cooperation with the Romanian Border Police, carried out a routine flight under the auspices of Frontex over the Black Sea in international airspace was intercepted around 1:20 p.m. approximately 60 km east of Romanian airspace by a Russian Su-35 fighter jet.”

“The aggressive and dangerous maneuvers repeatedly carried out by the fighter jets of the Russian Federation in the vicinity of the Polish plane caused a high level of turbulence and significant difficulties in its control,” the Ministry of Defense noted.

As a result of the incident, “two combat aircraft of the Romanian Air Force and two aircraft of the Spanish Air Force as part of the Air Police Combat Service were alerted by the NATO Joint Air Operations Center in Torrejon, ready to intervene at any moment. “, says the Ministry of Education and Culture.

According to the quoted source, it was not necessary to remove them.

“He managed to land safely at Kogelnichyan airport”

“The crew from Poland acted calmly and professionally in the situation irresponsibly created by the Russian pilot, managing to correct the aircraft after the initial loss of altitude caused by the maneuvers of the Su-35 aircraft, managing to land safely at Mykhailo Kogelnichyanu Airport. , around 1:50 p.m.,” explains the Ministry of Defense of Romania.

As a result of this incident, not a single crew member on board the Polish plane was injured, MApN also notes.

According to the ministry, the Romanian authorities are in contact with Frontex and the Polish authorities to clarify all the circumstances of this incident.

“The aggressive behavior of a military aircraft of the Russian Federation against an unarmed aircraft carrying out the Frontex mission of monitoring the migration risk in the Black Sea basin is absolutely unacceptable. This incident is another evidence of the provocative approach of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea,” the Ministry of Defense summarizes.

The Polish aircraft is participating in the Frontex operation, hosted by Romania, to combat crime in the Black Sea region

According to MApN, from April 19 to May 17, 2023, a Polish L410 UVP-E20 aircraft is stationed in Romania as part of the “Maritime Multipurpose Operation (MMO) Western Black Sea 2023” coordinated by the European Border and Border Protection Agency. coast – Frontex.

MMO Western Black Sea 2023 is a joint operation conducted by Romania and coordinated by Frontex. The operation also involves Poland, Spain and Sweden, as well as two European Union agencies: the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).

The operation, which will last until mid-December this year, is aimed at preventing illegal migration, illegal fishing, sea pollution and fighting other types of cross-border crime in the Black Sea region. Operation “Western Black Sea IMO” has been held annually since 2019.