Key Incidents Involving NATO Warships & Aircraft Near Russia's Borders

After the Ukraine conflict intensified, warships from the United States and other NATO countries increased provocative forays into the Black Sea. There has also been a surge in incidents involving NATO aircraft flying near Russia's maritime borders over the past few years.

Russia has dismissed accusations recently levelled by Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu of having “threatened” French planes in the Black Sea.

Alexey Chepa, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, underscored that Russia has never behaved “aggressively,” and invariably acts within international rules and flight assignments.

Sebastien Lecornu appeared on French radio RTL, claiming that, "A month ago, a Russian air traffic control system threatened to shoot down French aircraft in the Black Sea, even though we were in the internationally free zone in which we patrol."

In another incident dredged up by Lecornu, a Russian warship purportedly anchored in Baie de Seine, off northern France, at the edge of the country's territorial waters in a bid to "intimidate" France. He also accused Moscow of allegedly adopting an increasingly “aggressive stance" and "playing with the thresholds."

It should be noted that amid the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, there has been a surge in incidents when US and NATO warships have entered the waters of the Black Sea. In 2021, NATO sent over 30 warships to the area, breaking its own “record” that had held since 2014. There has also been an increase in incidents involving NATO aircraft flying near Russia's maritime borders, from the Barents and Baltic seas in the north and west, to the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk in Russia's Far East. From the opening days of Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine, the Black Sea has been a focal point of the NATO-led proxy war against Russia.

The fresh allegations by the French minister prompted Sputnik to take a look at provocative incidents involving NATO warships and aircraft near Russia's borders over the past few years.

• In November 2020, a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet was scrambled when a US Boeing RC-135 surveillance plane approached Russia's maritime border. Overall in 2020, the Radio-Technical Troops of the Russian Aerospace Forces recorded 40% more foreign reconnaissance aircraft near Russia's borders than the year before.

• On October 30, 2021, US Navy destroyer the USS Porter entered the Black Sea on a "routine patrol" after participating in NATO exercises in the Aegean Sea. At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed the missions by alliance ships in the Baltic and Black seas, commenting that, "Even now, a US warship has entered the Black Sea, and we can see it in binoculars or crosshairs of our defense systems."

• On December 13, 2021, the Auvergne (D654), an Aquitaine-class frigate of the French Navy, entered Black Sea. The multipurpose warship with missile and artillery armament possesses advanced sonar equipment and specializes in anti-submarine warfare.

• On 23 June, 2021, the HMS Defender, a Daring-class Royal Navy destroyer, illegally entered Russian waters off Crimea and proceeded to sail through, prompting Russian warships and aircraft to surround the ship and fire warning shots in its vicinity to force it to leave. Britain’s Defense Ministry initially denied that the incident even took place, putting out a flurry of conflicting accounts. Moscow denounced the incident as a deliberate provocation.

• In June 2021, the Russian Air Force scrambled fighter jets in order to prevent a violation of the country's borders by Dutch frigate the HNLMS Evertsen. The frigate "changed course in international waters and started moving towards the Kerch Strait. To prevent a violation of Russia's territorial waters Sukhoi-30 fighters and Sukhoi-24 bombers were scrambled to fly near the Dutch naval ship at a safe distance," the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that the frigate promptly turned away from the Russian border and continued along the original course.

• In August 2022, a Russian MiG-31BM jet was scrambled to chase off a UK Royal Air Force electronic surveillance aircraft that had violated Russian airspace in the Barents Sea. The foreign plane was identified as a Boeing RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft. "The aerial target violated the state border of the Russian Federation in the area of Cape Svyatoy Nos. The actions of the crew of the MiG-31BM forced the reconnaissance aircraft out of Russian territory," the Russian military said in a statement.

• In March 2023, an Su-30 fighter jet was scrambled to intercept a US MQ-9A Reaper drone approaching Russian waters in the Black Sea. "In order to identify the air target and prevent the violation of the state border of the Russian Federation, a Su-30 fighter jet of the air defense forces was taken into the air. The crew of the Russian fighter identified the aerial target as a reconnaissance UAV MQ-9A Reaper of the US Air Force," the Russian Defense Ministry's National Defense Control Center (NDCC) said in a statement.

• On October 4, 2023, two NATO strategic reconnaissance aircraft violated Russia’s air border over the Barents Sea: a Boeing RC-135 of the US Air Force and a Boeing P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft of the Norwegian Air Force.

• In March 2023, the Sea Shield 2023 maneuvers took place led by Romania’s Navy. The multinational sea and air military drills in the Black Sea region brought together some 3,400 military personnel from 12 NATO member countries and some partner nations.

• In July 2023, NATO kicked off the multinational naval exercise Poseidon in Romania’s port of Constanta. The mine countermeasures exercise brought together more than 750 troops from nine NATO member countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Romania, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

• In September 2023, naval forces of Romania and the US held the Sea Breeze 23.3 joint exercises in the Black Sea and the Danube Delta. The stated main objectives were to "enhance interoperability" with a focus on mine countermeasures.

• In February 2024, the Western alliance kicked off the active phase of its Steadfast Defender military exercises - the largest since 1988. The massive drills, more than four months long, are set to last until the end of May. They will involve some 90,000 troops from all 31 NATO countries plus Sweden (which is set to join the alliance later this year ), and will take place across the trans-Atlantic area, and constitute “the largest NATO exercises since the end of the Cold War.”

Steadfast Defender 2024: What to know About NATO’s Biggest Drills Since Cold War

🔸The Western alliance has kicked off the active phase of its Steadfast Defender military exercises.

🔸Over 90,000 troops from all 31 NATO countries plus Sweden (which is expected to join the… pic.twitter.com/UFW397I0Gz

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) February 1, 2024

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko expressed concerns in connection with the Steadfast Defender military drills, stating that the scale of these exercises marks NATO's return to Cold War-era confrontational strategies against Russia. The drills are taking place across the Transatlantic area, from the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans to the Nordics, the Baltics, Poland, Hungary and Romania, to Germany, Greece, Slovakia and the UK.

"An exercise of this scale marks the final and irrevocable return of NATO to the Cold War schemes," Grushko told Sputnik.