In the middle of the Ukraine crisis: Russian fighter jets intercept US planes over the Mediterranean - a highly dangerous maneuver
Created: 02/16/2022, 22:32
By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi
Russian Su-35 fighter jets have intercepted American planes in the Mediterranean Sea.
© Sergei Chirikov/picture alliance/dpa
Ukraine is not the only area of escalation between Russia and the United States.
A threatening confrontation also broke out in the Mediterranean Sea.
Munich - The Ukraine conflict is currently making global headlines and is high on the agenda of several countries.
The whole world is waiting and watching the developments in the crisis with concern.
Will Russia soon invade and occupy Ukraine after 2014?
The Kremlin denies this, but the West is certain that another invasion is looming - even after Russian claims that troops are partially withdrawing from the Ukrainian border.
The US, in particular, firmly believes in it.
Of course, the USA and Russia are not only at odds over Ukraine.
In Syria, too, the two major powers are on opposite sides.
Moscow supports the regime of the ruler Assad and wants to send strong signals to other states involved in the Syrian civil war with regular military maneuvers.
For Russia, Syria is of central importance, among other things for access to the Mediterranean Sea, where Moscow announced a new air maneuver a few days ago.
There was now a confrontation with US fighter jets - of all things in the middle of the Ukraine tensions.
Russia uses Mediterranean air base in Syria - US reconnaissance aircraft regularly fly nearby
The Hmeimim air base in Latakia on the Mediterranean acts as one of the largest Russian military bases in Syria.
Russian combat and transport planes land there again and again and provide the Syrian military with air support or deliver equipment.
The base, which was even visited by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2017, is often attacked by rebels from Idlib province with small self-made kamikaze drones - but without a significant effect due to the strong Russian air defenses.
But not only the rebels are interested in the Hmeimim base and the strong presence of Russian troops in Latakia.
A look at radar programs such as
FlightRadar24
reveals that almost every day at least one US P-8A reconnaissance aircraft takes off from Italy, flies along the Syrian coast near Latakia and apparently collects valuable information.
From time to time, Russia responds with intercept maneuvers similar to those in the Black Sea.
That's probably what happened last weekend.
Russia clearly provoked - US reconnaissance planes intercepted in "international airspace" over the Mediterranean
According to US information, Russian airmen intercepted three US Navy aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea and in one case approached the machine dangerously.
A Pentagon spokesman said on Wednesday (February 16)
that three US P-8A maritime reconnaissance aircraft were intercepted in an "unprofessional" manner in various incidents over the past weekend
.
The US aircraft would have been “in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea”.
Although such a Russian reaction to the American reconnaissance flights is not new, the highly tense situation due to the Ukraine crisis and the particularly dangerous course of the most recent incident make the interception maneuver particularly provocative.
According to a US official, a Russian plane came dangerously close to a US airman in one case.
The
Wall Street Journal
spoke of a distance of only one and a half meters.
Accordingly, the Russian aircraft were Su-35 fighter jets.
"While no one was harmed, such interactions could lead to misjudgments and errors leading to a more dangerous outcome," the US Department of Defense spokesman said.
The US had protested to Russia through "diplomatic channels".
The US would continue to “operate safely, professionally and in accordance with international law in international waters and airspace,” the spokesman said, adding: “We expect the same from Russia.”
(bb/afp)
