The Russian Armed Forces detected 32 foreign jets that were engaged in reconnaissance activities close to Russia’s airspace last week, the military’s official newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda reported on Friday.
A weekly infographic published by the outlet showed that Russian fighter jets had been scrambled three times to intercept foreign aircraft.
Еженедельный отчет об основных показателях деятельности Вооруженных Сил России#Минобороны #Инфографика #ВСРФзанеделю pic.twitter.com/e1Q578QPqA
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) August 7, 2020
The foreign jets had been prevented from illegally entering Russia’s airspace, the newspaper said.
Within this period of time, Russia has also spotted six unmanned aerial vehicles, which were carrying out reconnaissance missions near the Russian borders.
The United States and NATO countries often send aircraft and drones to perform reconnaissance activities along Russia's borders in the Baltic, in the Black Sea off Crimea and Krasnodar. Russian air defence forces regularly monitor, target, and track hundreds of NATO aircraft operating close to the border, and occasionally scramble fighter jets to escort foreign military aircraft away from Russian airspace.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned US and NATO drone flights and bomber drills near its borders, saying such behaviour sparks tensions. The alliance has so far ignored these objections.
