A Russian fighter jet intercepted a Polish border guard aircraft flying a mission above the Black Sea near the Romanian border Friday, which almost resulted in a collision, according to Romanian authorities.
The Polish Border
Guard said on Twitter that the Russian Su-35 flew into the area without radio
contact and performed "aggressive and dangerous" maneuvers.
The incident took
place on Friday at 6:20 a.m. ET, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of
Romania’s airspace, the Romanian defense ministry said in a statement Sunday.
“The aggressive and dangerous maneuvers repeatedly performed by
Russian fighters near the Polish aircraft caused high turbulence and
difficulties in controlling the aircraft,” the ministry said.
The
Polish aircraft was there as part of a joint mission coordinated by
the European Union border patrol system Frontex.
The mission, which is
set to last until mid-December, focuses on preventing irregular migration,
illegal fishing, marine pollution, and combatting other cross-border crimes in
the western Black Sea, according to the defense ministry.
The ministry said
that, as a result of the incident, two combat aircraft of the Romanian air
force as well as two aircraft of the Spanish Air Force were prepared to
intervene by the NATO Combined Air Operations Center in Torrejon, Spain, but
that their intervention was not necessary.
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