The ministry said on Tuesday that the United Kingdom sent a notification informing of a planned flight of an RC-135 reconnaissance plane along a route that partly passes through Russian territory. “We consider this action a deliberate provocation,” the ministry said, adding that the Russian air force “had the task of preventing the violation of Russia’s borders.” He said: “All possible consequences of this deliberate provocation will be borne solely by the British side.” He did not specify when or where the British flight was planned. On Monday, the ministry said a Russian fighter jet intercepted a British RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft that crossed the Russian border near Cape Svyatoi Nos between the Barents Sea and the White Sea. The MiG-31 fighter forced the intruder out, the ministry said. A UK Ministry of Defense spokesman said: “A Russian MiG-31 jet made an unsafe close pass of an RAF RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft as it was conducting a routine operation in international airspace over the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea on Monday 15th of August. “The UK aircraft was in contact with Russian air traffic control and its crew was operating in a safe and professional manner.”
