A MiG-31 Russian fighter jet of the Northern Fleet Air Defence Forces escorted a Norwegian R-3C Orion reconnaissance aircraft over the Barents Sea, the Defence Ministry said.
The interceptor took to the skies after airspace controls detected a target over the sea area approaching the country’s border.
“The crew of the Russian fighter identified the air target as the R-3C Orion base patrol aircraft of the Norwegian Air Force and escorted it over the Barents Sea. As a result of the professional actions of the fighter crew, tracking and control over the manoeuvres of the foreign warship was ensured,” the defence ministry said.
After the Orion turned away from the state border, the Russian fighter returned to its base airfield.
The flight of the Russian fighter took place in strict accordance with international rules. The MiG-31 did not cross air routes and did not make a dangerous rendezvous with a foreign aircraft.
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Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed in October that the number of flights by NATO reconnaissance and tactical aircraft near Russia’s borders this year has increased by 30 percent compared to the previous one.
Russian fighter jets regularly rise to escort the military aircraft of the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, which are trying to fly up to the borders of the country. Most often they appear over the Black Sea and the Baltic.
The Federal Air Transport Agency is confident that the increased intensity of flights by NATO countries near Russia creates risks for civilian aircraft.
The agency issued such a statement after an Airbus 330 passenger airliner was forced to change course due to crossing its route by an American Boeing RC-135V electronic intelligence aircraft.
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It comes as Ukraine’s prime minister is appealing for Patriot missile batteries and other high-tech air defence systems to counter Russian attacks, as more Russian shelling was reported on Monday in the eastern regions of Ukraine where Moscow is trying to make battlefield gains.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told French broadcaster LCI that Russia wants to swamp Europe with a new wave of Ukrainian refugees by its targeting of infrastructure in Ukraine that has caused electricity and water outages for millions during freezing winter weather.
Millions of Ukrainians have already fled the country since the Russian invasion started on February 24, and there are fears that many more could leave their homes during winter. Thousands of people have died and dozens of cities and towns across Ukraine have been reduced to rubble during the more than nine months of the Russian onslaught.
Ukraine also needs resupplies of artillery shells and modern battle tanks, Shmyhal said in an interview broadcast on Sunday night ahead of meetings in Paris this week to raise and coordinate more international aid for Ukraine.
The Kremlin has said attacks on Ukraine’s energy supply system were retaliation for what Moscow says was a Kyiv-orchestrated attack on the key, Russian-built bridge to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.