“Russian Fighter Jet Endangers Frontex Aircraft in International Airspace over Black Sea”

An L410 TURBOLET type aircraft belonging to Poland, which was performing a patrol mission under the auspices of Frontex over the Black Sea in international airspace on Friday, was intercepted approximately 60 kilometers east of Romania’s airspace by a Russian fighter jet Sukhoi Su-35, announces the Ministry of Defense from Bucharest. The aggressive maneuvers of the Russian aircraft almost caused the Polish plane to crash into the Black Sea.

The Romanian Air Force and the Spanish Air Force had prepared fighter jets for the intervention, but there was no need to take off, as the Polish aircraft managed to land safely at the Mihail Kogălniceanu airport, MApN also states in a statement sent on Saturday.

MApN press release:

On Friday, May 5, an L410 TURBOLET aircraft belonging to the Polish Border Police, which was carrying out, 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 evidence of the provocative approach of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea.

Between April 19 and May 17, 2023, a Polish type L410 UVP-E20 aircraft is deployed in Romania as part of the “Multipurpose Maritime Operation (MMO) Western Black Sea 2023”, coordinated by the European Border Police and Coast Guard Agency – Frontex.

MMO Western Black Sea 2023 is a joint operation hosted by Romania and coordinated by Frontex. Poland, Spain and Sweden also participate in this operation, as well as two European Union agencies: the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA). The operation, planned to take place until mid-December this year, aims to prevent illegal migration, illegal fishing, marine pollution and combat other types of cross-border crimes in the Black Sea region. The Western Black Sea MMO operation has been running annually since 2019.

Editor: Liviu Cojan