German Spy Plane Spotted Near Russia's Western Borders – Reports

NATO planes have been regularly flying in close proximity to Russia’s borders and overseas bases in Syria since relations between Russia and the US, along with its Western allies, entered a downward spiral.

A German Lockheed P-3C CUP Orion maritime surveillance aircraft was detected near the maritime border of the Kaliningrad region, a western Russian exclave, the Twitter page Plane Radar reported. According to the page, the plane came as close as 32 kilometres from Kaliningrad's coastline before it changed course.

13:50 мск.
Подлетал к береговой линии России на расстояние 32 км. pic.twitter.com/FUaJ3czVoN

— PlaneRadar (@ua4wiy_) May 24, 2019

The purpose of the flight remains unclear and neither Germany, nor Russia has commented on the report.

Flights by NATO reconnaissance aircraft near Russia’s borders and foreign military bases have become common place since relations between the Atlantic Alliance and Russia became strained in 2014. The Russian Defence Ministry has reported detecting and tracking over 1,000 reconnaissance planes throughout 2018.

Recently, a US Air Force RQ-4B-40 Global Hawk was spotted by aviation enthusiasts flying along Russia’s western border and near the Kaliningrad region on 15 May. The same American plane was also detected flying along the Crimean coastline on 7 May.