“Russian Su-35 Fighter Intercepts and Harasses Polish Plane over Black Sea: Frontex Mission in Danger”

“On Friday, May 5, an L410 TURBOLET type aircraft belonging to the Polish Border Police, which was performing, in cooperation with the Romanian Border Police, routine patrol missions under the auspices of Frontex above the Black Sea, in international airspace, was intercepted , around 1:20 p.m., approximately 60 km East of Romania’s airspace, by a Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet.

The aggressive and dangerous maneuvers repeatedly performed by the Russian Federation fighter aircraft near the Polish aircraft generated a high level of turbulence and major difficulties in controlling it.

As a result of the incident, two combat aircraft of the Romanian Air Force and two of the Spanish Air Force in the Air Police Combat Service were pre-alert by the NATO Combined Air Operations Center in Torrejon, being prepared to intervene at any moment, not being but it is necessary to take them off.

The crew from Poland acted calmly and professionally in the situation irresponsibly created by the Russian pilot, managing to right the plane, after the initial loss of altitude caused by the maneuvers of the Su-35 aircraft, managing to land safely at Mihail Kogălniceanu Airport, around at 13.50. No crew members on board the Polish aircraft were injured as a result of this incident.

The Romanian authorities are in contact with Frontex and the Polish authorities to clarify all the circumstances of this incident. The aggressive behavior of the military aircraft belonging to the Russian Federation against an unarmed aircraft carrying out a Frontex mission to monitor the migratory risk in the Black Sea basin is completely unacceptable. This incident is further proof of the provocative approach of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea,” reads a press release from the Ministry of Defense.