(Reuters) – Russia’s Defense Ministry said a Russian Su-35 fighter jet had to be activated to fly over the Baltic Sea on Monday after two U.S. strategic bombers flew toward the Russian border, but that it returned to base after they moved away.
The incident came after a U.S. drone crashed into the Black Sea on March 14 after it was intercepted by Russian jets — the first known direct military encounter between Russia and the United States since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of last year.
“On March 20, the radar installations of the air defense forces of the Western military district on duty in the Baltic Sea detected two aerial targets flying in the direction of the state border of the Russian Federation,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
The ministry said in the note that the targets were B52H strategic bombers of the US Air Force.
According to the statement, an Su-35 fighter jet took off to avoid a border violation and added, “after the foreign military aircraft moved away from the Russian Federation border, the Russian fighter returned to its base airfield.”
The ministry said that the flight of the Su-35 was strictly in accordance with international rules on the use of airspace.
“No violation of the state border of the Russian Federation was allowed,” it said.