RAF Typhoons intercept Russian warplanes flying close to NATO air space

Britain’s Royal Air Force deployed fighter jets last night to intercept Russian military jets flying close to NATO airspace, officials said.

RAF Typhoons currently based in Estonia were dispatched to meet a Russian Navy Tupolev Tu-134 and two Sukhoi Su-27 flankers.

The British Air Force shared photos on Twitter of the Typhoons making the interception, flying alongside the larger Tu-134 with ‘Baltic Fleet’ written on the side.

“Tonight RAF Typhoons from 140 EAW in Estonia scrambled to intercept a Russian Navy Tu-134 and 2x Su-27 ‘FLANKER’ Bs flying close to NATO airspace,” the RAF said in the statement. post on the social media platform.

“The Russian aircraft failed to meet international standards by not maintaining contacts with regional airspace control agencies,” it added.

RAF Typhoons (right) currently based in Estonia were dispatched to meet a Russian Navy Tupolev Tu-134 (left) and two Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets in the skies near Estonia

The intervention is the latest in a series of incidents in which Moscow’s fighter jets have strayed close to NATO airspace since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine last year.

An almost identical incident occurred on Friday, with RAF Typhoons intercepting a Russian Air Force IL-20 COOT A and two SU-27s near Estonian airspace.

Moscow’s fighter jets also failed to meet international standards at the time, the RAF said.

Estonia, a former Soviet state, borders Russia and is one of 31 members of NATO, and has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest financiers since Russia’s invasion.

The RAF has acted a number of times since the outbreak of war in Ukraine to deter Russian aircraft from breaching NATO airspace.

On 9 June, British jets were scrambled for the second time in 24 hours when Typhoons intercepted an Antonov An-12 Cub and an Antonov An-72 Coaler flying south from mainland Russia towards Kaliningrad Oblast.

The same fighters were then re-tasked to intercept two Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire bombers and two Su-30SM Flanker H fighters flying from mainland Russia over the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea, the RAF said.

And this came after RAF Typhoons and Swedish Air Force Gripens scrambled to intercept a Russian Air Force IL-20 Coot A and a Su-27 Flanker on June 8. The Russian jets flew near Swedish airspace on this occasion.

In a sign of tensions in the skies around Ukraine, it was revealed earlier this year that a Russian fighter jet attempted to down a manned RAF jet over the Black Sea in what could have amounted to an act of war.

The intervention of the RAF jets comes just days after an almost identical incident, in which RAF Typhoons intercepted the Russian Air Force IL-20 COOT A and two SU-27s near Estonian airspace on Friday (pictured)

Fortunately, the missile malfunctioned during an incident that U.S. defense officials revealed today was much more serious than first thought.

The Su-27’s blundering pilot mistakenly believed that a radar operator on the ground had given him permission to fire on and bring down the British jet on September 29.

The Russian jet latched onto the RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft and released – but the deadly missile failed to launch properly and missed. It was previously believed that the missile was launched accidentally – not an intentional act of war.

Wednesday’s interception came as Western allies gathered in London pledging to make Russia pay for its invasion of Ukraine, while governments and private investors met to fund the country’s reconstruction after the war’s ravages.

The World Bank has estimated $14 billion for Ukraine’s immediate needs to repair the damage caused by the bitter fighting.

But a recent study by the World Bank, UN, European Union and Ukrainian government said the broader recovery of the economy would cost $441 billion.

“Let’s be clear: Russia is causing the destruction of Ukraine,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told delegates at the London conference.

“And Russia will ultimately bear the cost of rebuilding Ukraine,” he added.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak issued a similar message, promising to maintain tough sanctions ‘until Russia pays’, and to use seized assets to get Ukraine back on its feet.

In the overnight conflict, Russia said it shot down three Ukrainian drones in the Moscow region, while Ukraine said its air defense systems shot down six Iranian-designed attack drones in the west.

The conference comes as President Volodymyr Zelensky oversees a military fight back by his forces using Western-supplied heavy weapons to regain territory lost to Russian forces since last year.

“Each day of Russian aggression brings with it new ruins, thousands upon thousands of houses destroyed, industries destroyed, lives burned,” Zelensky told London delegates via video link.

But he set out his position for future investment in Ukraine, saying that despite the devastation, the country was ripe for development in sectors from technology and green agriculture to clean energy.

International aid to Ukraine would send a strong message to generations to come, he said.

“Furthermore, the world is watching to see if we will restore normal life in such a way that our transformation will bring an ideological defeat to the aggressor.

“We protect Ukraine, and by doing so we protect freedom. And when we build Ukraine, we build freedom.’

Wednesday’s interception came as Western allies gathered in London pledging to make Russia pay for its invasion of Ukraine, while governments and private investors rallied to fund the country’s reconstruction after the war’s ravages.

Leaders and representatives from more than 60 countries will attend the 2023 International Ukraine Recovery Conference – the second since the Russian invasion last February.

The first, in July last year in Lugano, Switzerland, saw Kyiv’s allies commit to supporting Ukraine in what is expected to be an eye-wateringly costly and decades-long recovery.

African countries, however, have expressed concern that by pumping aid to Ukraine, the West is reneging on its commitments to help the continent develop and fight climate change.

Sunak told deputies that Kiev’s allies would support Ukraine “on the battlefield and beyond” for as long as necessary.