Moment RAF jets kept Vladimir Putin's bomber in check

A dramatic video today revealed the moment RAF Typhoon fighter jets escorted a quartet of Russian aircraft off the coast of Scotland after they headed towards UK airspace over the North Sea.

The Typhoons were scrambled from Lossiemouth in Moray after two Russian Tu-95 Bear H bombers and two maritime patrol Tu-142 Bear F aircraft were tracked by the RAF near the ‘UK’s area of interest’ over the North Sea.

After a mid-air standoff of several minutes yesterday afternoon they were escorted away without entering UK airspace – with the incident coming just hours before Russian president Vladimir Putin and Boris Johnson spoke.

The Russian footage highlights a mission that came soon after Mr Johnson’s return from a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday and before he warned the Kremlin leader yesterday that an attack on Ukraine would be a ‘tragic miscalculation’. 

The British high-readiness aircraft took off from Lossiemouth after warnings were received about the inbound Russian jets. The quick reaction force was accompanied by a RAF Voyager refuelling aircraft from Brize Norton.

They intercepted and escorted the Russian jets away from UK airspace in an incident which took place at an extremely tense time in UK-Russia relations. The Typhoons flew in close proximity to the Russian aircraft, which had entered airspace known as the UK’s ‘area of interest’, which is not the same as UK sovereign airspace.

The ‘area of interest’ is further from the British Isles and includes international airspace, but the UK is responsible for policing it and providing air traffic control services. While such operations are not unusual, the timing of the incident on the day that the Prime Minister and Mr Putin spoke in a phone call gave it additional significance. 

As tensions continued to mount with more than 100,000 Russian troops now massed on the border with Ukraine: 

• Ministers were warned Britain faces a wave of Russian cyber-attacks over of its staunch support for Ukraine;
• Mr Johnson expressed his ‘deep concern’ about Russian aggression during his call with President Putin;
• Mr Putin said after the conversation that the West was giving no ground on Russia’s security concerns.
• US President Joe Biden unveiled a plan to send thousands more troops and weapons to the region;
• Russia has built up tanks, artillery, helicopters, warplanes and aircraft near the Ukraine border.

An RAF spokesman told MailOnline last night: ‘Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon fighters based at RAF Lossiemouth supported by a Voyager from RAF Brize Norton were scrambled against unidentified aircraft approaching the UK area of interest. Subsequently we intercepted and escorted four Russian Bear aircraft.’  

The Tu-95 is the only propeller-powered strategic bomber still in operational use today, and the plane first flew 70 years ago.

The Tu-95s had flown from Engels air base in Saratov region, with the Tu-142 flying from Kipelovo air base in Vologda region.

A Russian report said: ‘In the course of the flight, the crews of Tu-95 aircraft practiced aerial refuelling. The flight time was about 15 hours.

‘At some stages of the route, the Russian strategic missile carriers were accompanied by Eurofighter Typhoon fighters of the British Air Force.’

In November last year, jets were launched in response to Russian TU-160 Blackjack strategic bombers.

Officials said at the time that the fighters escorted the Russian aircraft out of the area of interest and that the bombers did not enter UK airspace.

In another dramatic episode, a Royal Navy warship continued its monitoring mission yesterday as a pair of Russian naval vessels transited through the English Channel.

HMS Argyle, a Type 23 frigate, assumed responsibility for escorting the Soobrazitelniy and the Stoykiy from the French Navy earlier this week. The Ministry of Defence described the move as a ‘normal response’.

Yesterday, Mr Johnson warned Mr Putin that an invasion of Ukraine would be a ‘tragic miscalculation’ during a phone call between the two leaders.

The Prime Minister expressed his ‘deep concern’ about Russian aggression in a call that had been delayed because of the Partygate allegations.

The tense conversation came as US President Joe Biden unveiled a plan to send thousands more troops and weapons to the region.

The call with Mr Putin – which lasted between four or five minutes – follows Mr Johnson’s diplomatic trip to Ukraine on Tuesday.

He held a joint press conference with its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he vowed to unleash immediate sanctions ‘the moment the first Russian toe cap’ crosses into Ukraine.

More than 100,000 Russian troops are massed on the country’s border, with many positioned on Ukraine’s northern border in Belarus, Russia’s ally.

Downing Street said of yesterday’s call: ‘The Prime Minister expressed his deep concern about Russia’s current hostile activity on the Ukrainian border.

‘He emphasised the need to find a way forward which respects both Ukraine’s territorial integrity and right to self-defence. The Prime Minister stressed that any further Russian incursion into Ukrainian territory would be a tragic miscalculation.’

A spokesman said Mr Johnson told Mr Putin that Ukraine had the right to join Nato, and emphasised that the alliance was defensive.

She added: ‘The leaders agreed that aggravation was in no-one’s interest. The Prime Minister stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy, and the need to include Ukraine in talks.’

President Putin said after the conversation that the West was giving no ground on Russia’s security concerns.

In a significant show of force yesterday, President Biden announced that he was sending about 2,000 US-based troops to Poland and Germany and shifting 1,000 soldiers from Germany to Romania.

The Pentagon said it was a demonstration of US commitment to allies on Nato’s eastern flank amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. The moves were not permanent but designed to reassure allies at a time of tension.

‘It’s important that we send a strong signal to Mr Putin and to the world of the US commitment to Nato,’ Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said.

He said France would send troop reinforcements to Romania, and other European Nato countries are considering adding forces. Russia denounced the deployment and warned that they would complicate the crisis.

‘The unfounded destructive steps will only fuel military tensions and narrow the field for political decisions,’ Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said.

The US already has several thousand troops in Poland, and Romania is host to a Nato missile defence system that Russia considers a threat to its security.

Poland’s defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak wrote on Twitter that the US deployment to his country was ‘a strong signal of solidarity in response to the situation in Ukraine’.

Russia’s build-up in areas near the Ukraine border includes tanks, artillery, helicopters, warplanes and aircraft. Russian officials have insisted that Moscow has no intention of invading.