Russia’s defence ministry has warned Britain against a planned spy plane flight over Russian territory, saying its air force has been given orders to prevent an intrusion.
The ministry said on Tuesday that the UK had sent a notice informing about a planned flight of an RC-135 reconnaissance plane along a route that partly passes over Russian territory.
“We regard this action as a deliberate provocation,” the ministry said, adding that the Russian air force had been “given the task to prevent the violation of the Russian border”.
It said: “All possible consequences of this deliberate provocation will lie entirely with the British side.”
It did not specify when and where the British flight was planned.
On Monday the ministry said a Russian fighter jet was scrambled to intercept a British RC-135 reconnaissance plane that crossed the Russian border near the Svyatoi Nos cape between the Barents Sea and the White Sea. The MiG-31 fighter forced the intruder out, the ministry said.
A UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “A Russian MiG-31 jet conducted an unsafe close pass of an RAF RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft as it carried out a routine operation in international airspace over the Norwegian and Barents Seas on Monday 15 August.
“The UK aircraft was in communication with Russian civilian air traffic control and its crew operated in a safe and professional manner.”