Russia alerted NATO planes

NATO air forces were put on alert due to the interception of a Polish aircraft by a Russian Su-35.

How informs RMF FM, on Friday May 5, a Russian Su-35 jet dangerously intercepted an L410 TURBOLET belonging to the Polish Border Guard. It performed a planned patrol mission under the auspices of Frontex over the Black Sea in international airspace, in cooperation with the Romanian services.

At about 13.20 local time (coinciding with Moscow), 60 km east of Romanian airspace, the Polish plane was intercepted by a Russian Su-35, writes dw referring to the Romanian Ministry of Defense. The ministry said that the aggressive and dangerous maneuvers repeatedly performed by Russian fighters near the Polish plane caused high turbulence and difficulties in controlling the aircraft.

As a result, two combat aircraft of the Romanian Air Force and two aircraft of the Spanish Air Force, which were on combat duty of the air police, were put on alert by the Joint Air Operations Center in Torrejon. They were ready to intervene at the first opportunity, but it turned out that this was not necessary, reports TASS.

The report notes that the Polish crew “managed to level the plane after the initial loss of altitude” and made a safe landing at about 13:50 at the Mihail Kogalniceanu airport. None of the Polish crew members were injured in the incident. The crew from Poland, the Romanians said, behaved calmly and professionally in the situation created by the Russian pilot. The Romanian Ministry of Defense in its communiqué notes:

“The Romanian authorities are in contact with Frontex and the Polish authorities to clarify all the circumstances of the incident. The aggressive behavior of a military aircraft belonging to the Russian Federation towards an unarmed aircraft that is on Frontex’s mission to monitor migration risks in the Black Sea basin is absolutely unacceptable. This The incident is yet another proof of the provocative behavior of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea.”

The Polish aircraft L410 UVP-E20 is in Romania from April 19 to May 17, 2023 as part of the Western Black Sea 2023 multipurpose maritime operation, which is coordinated by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. This is a joint operation led by Romania and coordinated by Frontex. Poland, Spain and Sweden are also participating in the operation along with two European Union agencies. Scheduled until mid-December this year, the operation aims to prevent illegal migration, illegal fishing, marine pollution and combat other types of cross-border crime in the Black Sea region. Operation “Western Black Sea IMO” has been held annually since 2019.

Meanwhile, Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller commented on the interception of a Polish border guard plane by a Russian fighter, saying on the air Polsat News that it was a planned provocation:

“Within the framework of FRONTEX, the institute EU, which deals with the protection of the borders of the European Union, various types of missions are carried out at the external borders of the EU. Representatives of the Polish Border Guard participated in just such a mission, which was aimed at monitoring the airspace within Romania. It was more of a planned provocation by Russia. We see that Russia is seeking to draw the attention of the international community to this type of provocation.”

Paulina Henning-Kloska from the Poland 2050 party, meanwhile, assessed that “provocations from Russia”: “In my opinion, this also indicates the impotence of Russia. They cannot attract public attention with their successes at the front, then they try to do it in a different way, namely such provocations, which are obviously also directed at NATO members.”

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