ENGLAND — According to the U.K. defense minister, a Russian fighter jet “launched a missile” close to an unarmed British observation plane.
Ben Wallace informed the Houses of Parliament on September 29 that the event took place in “international airspace above the Black Sea.”
Two Russian armed SU-27 fighter aircraft “interacted with an unarmed RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint,” of which one “launched a missile in the vicinity of the RAF Rivet Joint beyond visual range.”
He claimed that after finishing its patrol, the British aircraft returned to base.
Wallace claimed that he “personally addressed my concerns with my Russian counterpart” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia’s Chief of Defense Staff Valery Gerasimov “in light of this possibly dangerous engagement.”
He claimed, “I made explicit in my letter that the aircraft was unarmed, in international airspace, and following a pre-notified flightpath.
In response, the Russian Ministry of Defense said it had looked into the facts of the incident and determined the SU-27 fighter had malfunctioned technically, the author said.
The Russian defense ministry has been contacted by NBC News for comment.
Wallace additionally pleaded with Iran to “desist” from supplying Russia with the “kamikaze” drones that Moscow has been employing to assault Ukraine. Iran has denied providing drones to Russia.
Wallace told the House of Commons that legislators “would not have missed the parallel between the V-1 rockets and the use of this,” comparing their use to Nazi Germany’s bombings of the United Kingdom during World War II.
He said, “I would urge the Iranian authorities to understand that clearly providing Russia with the means to indiscriminately slaughter civilians, women and children, and babies in prams, is not an activity that Iran wants to be identified with.
He continued, “And I would advise them to desist as quickly as possible. “And we are not at all persuaded by the Iranian Government’s assertions that this is not being supplied by them,” the author continued.
This week, as the Kremlin’s soldiers launched a devastating bombardment against civilian and infrastructure targets all around the nation, drones carrying explosives scared Kyiv.
The drones were sent to Moscow to be deployed in Ukraine, according to claims made by both Washington and Kiev, and Iran has denied.
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman stated on Tuesday that the country “considers news made on the delivery of drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine war as unfounded and does not confirm it.”
