Russian jets intercept US, UK planes

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Russian fighter jets intercepted three US and one British reconnaissance aircraft flying over the Baltic and Black seas, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said. On Monday, Russian airspace control systems detected an air target approaching the Russian border over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, the Ministry's Zvezda broadcasting service said in a statement.

The crew of a Russian Su-27SM fighter approached the aerial object and identified it at a safe distance as a US Air Force RC-135 strategic reconnaissance plane, Xinhua news agency quoted Zvezda as saying.

Also on Monday, another Su-27 jet intercepted a US Air Force RC-135 plane, a US Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft and a British Royal Air Force Sentinel R1 reconnaissance aircraft, which were approaching Russia over the neutral waters of the Black Sea.

In the past few weeks, Russian jets repeatedly intercepted US reconnaissance planes approaching the country's border from various directions.

(With agency inputs)