Russia Spotted 20 Foreign Reconnaissance Jets Close to Airspace Over Past Week

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian Armed Forces have spotted 20 foreign aircraft that were engaged in reconnaissance activities close to Russia's airspace during the past week, the military's official newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda reported on Friday.

A weekly infographic published by the outlet showed that Russian jets had been scrambled 12 times to intercept foreign aircraft. No foreign planes have illegally entered Russia's airspace.

Earlier in the month, a B-52 bomber of the United States Air Force approached Russia's borders near the exclave of Kaliningrad aiming at carrying out a simulated bombing of a local Russian Baltic Fleet’s base.

🇺🇸U.S. Air Force | 2BW | 20BS
Boeing B-52H Stratofortress
60-0025 BRIGO1 pic.twitter.com/oYHWLZrCcH

— 360°Radar (@wipljw) October 23, 2019

On 19 October, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet was forced to escort another US B-52 bomber which was spotted on the way to the Crimean peninsula.

🇺🇸U.S. Air Force | 2BW | 20BS
Boeing B-52H Stratofortress
61-0010 AFKAI12#Crimea #Blacksea pic.twitter.com/P3AjwY1xHX

— 360°Radar (@wipljw) October 19, 2019

Russia has repeatedly condemned US military drills next to its border, saying that it creates additional tensions. The Defence Ministry of the Russian Federation has called for the US administration not to carry out such exercises; however, the Pentagon has rejected Moscow's requests.

The US and its NATO allies regularly send bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, and drones east to test Russia’s borders in the Baltic and Black Seas.