A Russian Su-27 fighter jet has intercepted and escorted an American RC-135 spy plane over the waters of the Baltic Sea near the Russian border, the Defense Ministry has said, releasing a short video of the engagement.

"In order to intercept the target, a Su-27 fighter jet of the on-duty air defense forces was scrambled," the ministry said.

The Russian fighter jet approached the US aircraft at a safe distance and "unidentified it as an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft."

Captured from the cockpit of the super-maneuverable Russian fighter aircraft, the video of the encounter shows the jet safely approaching from behind and aligning with a large aircraft, identified as an RC-135 reconnaissance plane. The exact time of the engagement was not revealed.

The number of foreign military jets snooping near Russian borders has grown drastically in the past years and the Air Force frequently scrambles jets to intercept and escort them away, often to the dire criticism of US and other NATO countries, who call Moscow's attitude ‘unprofessional’.