Russian fighters on Thursday escorted the US and French warplanes over the Black Sea as they tried to approach the Russian borders, the Russian Defence Ministry's National Defence Control Centre (NDCC) told reporters.

According to the Russian military, on 9 December, Russian radars detected air targets approaching the Russian state border over the neutral waters of the Black Sea.

"To identify air targets and prevent them from crossing Russia's state border, three Su-27 fighters from the air defence forces of the Southern Military District were scrambled," the NDCC said.

The centre clarified that "the crews of Russian fighters identified the air targets as two tactical fighters Mirage-2000 and Rafale of the French Air and Space Force, reconnaissance aircraft CL-600 Artemis of the US Army, strategic reconnaissance aircraft RC-135 of the US Air Force, and also a tanker aircraft KS-135 of the French Air and Space Force, and escorted them over the Black Sea."