A Russian fighter jet nearly shot down a British spy plane last year, according to a brief US military document online, a more significant incident than previously shown and one that could draw the United States and its NATO allies directly into the war in Ukraine. reports Washington Post.
The incident occurred on September 29 off the coast of Crimea, a heavily fortified Ukrainian peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014 and has used as a base for its Black Sea fleet and for attacks on other Ukrainian territories.
The document, one of dozens of classified Pentagon documents leaked online that sparked a Justice Department investigation, refers to the incident as a “near shoot-down of a British RJ,” referring to the RC-135’s nickname, “Rivet Joint.” reconnaissance aircraft. The plane is used to collect radio transmissions and other electronic messages.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace reported the incident to the House of Commons in October, saying two Russian Su-27 fighter jets intercepted the RC-135 in international airspace over the Black Sea while flying “recklessly”, coming within 5 meters of the aircraft. British plane.
One of the Russian planes “fired a missile” in the distance, while Wallace told lawmakers, without describing the incident as a “not bad miss,” that the missile launch was attributed to a “technical malfunction” and said he had told senior Russian defense officials about it.
The incident underscores the balance Western military officials are trying to find between helping the Ukrainian army and gathering intelligence about the war without getting directly involved in the conflict with Moscow.
Russian officials have tried to portray NATO countries as aggressors, while the United States and its allies have said they support Ukraine but are not at war with Russia.
According to the NATO treaty, if a member of the military alliance is the victim of an armed attack, all members of the alliance will consider it an attack and jointly respond.
US Defense Department officials declined to comment on the contents of the leaked document, as well as other information leaked to programs such as Discord, Telegram and Twitter.
The document was printed on letterhead for the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and details surveillance flights over the Black Sea from the day of the incident to February 26.
The history of Russia’s aggressive actions against NATO aircraft
The document is marked “SECRET/UNOFFICIAL”, which means it cannot be released to non-US citizens. It details a number of other Russian responses to reconnaissance flights by US, British and French aircraft between October and late February, including flights on December 30 when another British Rivet Joint jet, escorted by two British Typhoon fighters, was intercepted by the Russians. planes that approached at a distance of up to 30 meters.
In another case, on February 22, an American MQ-9 reconnaissance drone was intercepted, a Russian aircraft approached at a distance of up to 30 meters.
About two weeks later, on March 14, two Russian Su-27s intercepted the MQ-9, dumping fuel on the drone and eventually colliding with it.
The collision prompted U.S. personnel operating the remote-controlled vehicle to lower it into the Black Sea, U.S. officials said.
The document’s map shows a border drawn across parts of the Black Sea to mark where surveillance planes can fly.
According to international law, it begins approximately 12 miles from the coast of Crimea. The map also shows a second line about 50 miles off the coast marked “SECDEF Directed Standoff,” indicating that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin allegedly ordered U.S. pilots to keep planes away from the peninsula.
In addition, the US decision to reroute reconnaissance drones further south, over the Black Sea, after a Russian jet collided with an American drone, is crippling the US’s “ability to gather intelligence” related to the war in Ukraine, a senior US military official told CNN.
In March, Austin said the United States would continue to fly “wherever international law allows,” rejecting Moscow’s claims to a self-proclaimed exclusion zone over large parts of the Black Sea.
According to the document, French and British aircraft conducted manned reconnaissance flights over the Black Sea between September 29 and February 26, while the Americans relied on drones, including the RQ-4 Global Hawk, RQ-170 Sentinel and MQ-9 Reaper. The flights were made every month, the document says.
Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Russia’s actions in striking down a U.S. drone show a pattern of aggressive actions toward the United States, Britain and other countries.
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