A Russian fighter jet patrolling the Black Sea coast came within 3 meters of a U.S. spy plane on May 30, CNN reported Friday, citing several U.S. officials.
According to the report, the Russian jet followed the U.S. plane “for some time” at the same altitude, although the U.S. plane did not have to resort to avoidance maneuvers, news portal Lenta.ru reported.
The Russian military declined to say whether it had filed a diplomatic protest with the United States over the incident.
This is not the first time American and Russian military forces have come close to conflict in the region.
Also in late May, two Russian SU-24 supersonic fighter jets from the Black Sea Fleet flew a sortie over the destroyer U.S.S. Ross, which had in the opinion of the Russian military come too close to Russian territorial waters in the Black Sea, according to Lenta.ru. After the flight the U.S. ship moved further into neutral waters.
The U.S. Navy denied that the flights had caused the ship to retreat, according to military news website USNI News.
