Russia's MiG-31 chases off UK's RC-135 surveillance jet in Barents Sea

Russia's Air Force [VKS] on Monday chased off a Royal Air Force spy plane RRR7255 that violated Russian airspace in the Barents Sea near Murmansk. In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said that it dispatched a MiG-31 interceptor to escort the RC-135 surveillance jet near Cape Svyatoy Nos, located around the military bases of the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet.

"MiG-31BM interceptor on duty with the border air patrol identified the aircraft and compelled it to stop its violation of Russian airspace", Russia's Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

Moscow's MoD identified that the UK's fighter jet had violated airspace at Svyatoy Nos, a cape on the Kola Peninsula, east of Murmansk in western Russia. The FlightRadar data showed a Royal Air Force RC-135 flying off the coast of Murmansk, and Russia's MoD gave no further details about how the UK jet entered its airspace. It was an RAF spy plane designated as RRR7255 that entered the White Sea, violating Russian airspace. 

RAF jets were similarly scrambled to intercept four Russian military aircraft to the north of Scotland in February days before Moscow had launched its military invasion of Ukraine. RAF Typhoon fighter jets intercepted and escorted the four Russian Bear aircraft out of what they described as the UK 'area of interest.' Such instances not uncommon are labelled as quick reaction alerts and have taken place since the Cold War era. After it was intercepted the RAF plane was flown to the base in Waddington, Lincolnshire. It is the base for RAF Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) command.

Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender sailed into Crimean waters

Monday's incursion was the second since the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender sailed off the coast of Crimea 'deliberately.' The war vessel was sailing in the Black Sea to participate in NATO’s Sea Breeze exercise and had entered Russia's territorial waters while it was on its way to visit the port of Batumi, Georgia after it sailed out of the Ukrainian port of Odesa. The vessel was closely shadowed by Russian forces who fired warning shots to deter it from the route. 

HMS Defender was part of a NATO naval task force participating in Operation Sea Guardian, NATO’s counter-terrorism mission in the Mediterranean. While it sailed with a Dutch navy ship from the port of Odesa, it had the automatic identification system (AIS) signals spoofed by Russian electronic warfare systems that indicated that it was travelling towards Crimean waters. The maritime route from Odesa to Batumi involves a passage through Crimean territorial waters off Cape Fiolent.