Russia says Su-27 fighter jet intercepted German aircraft over Baltic Sea

ISTANBUL 

Russia said late Wednesday that one of its Su-27 fighter jets intercepted a German aircraft approaching Russian airspace over the Baltic Sea.

“An Su-27 fighter jet of the Western Military District scrambled to identify the air target and prevent a violation of the state border of the Russian Federation,” the country’s National Centre for State Defense Control said in a statement.

The statement said the Russian fighter jet identified the aircraft as an R-3C Orion base patrol aircraft of the German Navy but later returned to its airfield after the aircraft turned away from its trajectory.

It said the German aircraft did not violate Russia’s state borders.

“The Russian fighter jet made a flight in strict compliance with the international rules for the use of airspace over international waters without crossing any air routes or coming dangerously close to an aircraft of a foreign state,” the statement added.