In the late afternoon of Friday the 28th of August, a B-52 bomber was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 fighter in international airspace over the Baltic Sea.
NATO say that the intercept occurred as the B-52 bomber was closing in on Danish airspace in the vicinity of the Island of Bornholm. The Russian Su-27, flying from Kaliningrad, followed the B-52 well into Danish airspace over the island, committing a significant violation of airspace of a NATO nation.
“This incident demonstrates Russia’s disrespect of international norms and for the sovereign airspace of an Allied nation. We remain vigilant, ready and prepared to secure NATO airspace 24/7,” said General Jeff Harrigian, Commander of NATO’s Allied Air Command.
On Friday an intercept occurred as a B-52 bomber was entering Danish airspace. NATO say that a Russian Su-27, flying from Kaliningrad, followed the B-52 into Danish airspace. This is a video from earlier that day showing a "unsafe, unprofessional" intercept over the Black Sea. pic.twitter.com/OEM2gjUmb4
— UK Defence Journal (@UKDefJournal) August 31, 2020
This happened as the the bombers were deployed to “fly over all 30 NATO members in one day”.
Danish Quick Reaction Alert aircraft were launched to counter the violation, however the violating Russian fighters turned back before interception. The Danish jets remained airborne however, say NATO.
“The unauthorised intrusion of sovereign airspace is a significant violation of international law. Friday’s incident is the first of this kind for several years and indicates a new level of Russian provocative behavior. The B-52 bomber was taking part in the long-planned training activity ‘Allied Sky’, where six B-52 aircraft flew over all 30 NATO member nations in one single day, accompanied by and training with around 80 fighter aircraft from across the Alliance.”
Gate-crashing gopniks…?
Flying that close to our friends in Kaliningrad must surely have justified a Fighter Escort of some kind id have thought.
The Russians aren’t going to shoot it down unless it actually crosses into their airspace. If Nato did send an escort Russia would just send double the amount of interceptors to prove a point and the whole thing ends up costing a fortune for what is a routine patrol.
Surely the issue is the Putin does not adhere to any of the other rules. Why should he adhere to that one?
If the Russians continue to break the rules sooner or later things will get out of hand and that when it gets dangerous. Some diplomacy is needed.
That tiny Putin is like a 2 year old throwing a hissy fit. He wants Russia to be relevant like in the old days so he pulls stupid stunts like this to get attention.
Putin is 67. I suppose he could linger on like Mugabe, but then if he does, Russia would end up like Zimbabwe.
It is up to the Russian people to choose their leader. Will they put up with a economy like Zimbabwe?
NATO countries need to focus minimising any collateral damage regardless of who is in charge.
Up to the Russian people?
Putin just poisoned their opposition leader.
Those are my thoughts. Should popular opinion shift away it seems unlikely that he would be able to maintain power for long?
The Russian people don’t choose who their leaders are, but it goes to show that Putin’s propaganda is still fooling some.
Agree with you Harold
LOL yes Ulya ,you agreeing with Harold is no surprise.
I would say appeasing the Russians doesn’t work, they only respond to strength, to suggest they will play nicely if NATO backs off is naive I am afraid, the current regime in Moscow can no more be appeased than Germany prior to WW2.
You have to understand the current Kremlin mentality Harold, Putin has only one card to play and it’s “Hard Man” , he’s a one trick pony presiding over a shattered economy. Any attempt to play it any other way and he looses control, just like Hitler in the pre war years really….
Your interpretation of things are interesting John. Your first paragraph, swap Russia with NATO and I read the same idea in Russian sites.
Putin is not seen as ‘hard man’ here, he is seen as very conservative and cautious with his actions, depending on who you talk to or what sites you read, he is too cautious and needs to take harder stance towards NATO.
Putin’s popularity has taken a hit recently, that is more to do with covid, the constitution changes and his foreign policy when it comes to Libya etc, but not Ukraine.
It is a pity both side interpretation of things is so far apart, it does not give me much hope that things will get better anytime soon. I have seen comments before where westerners think things will get better once Putin goes, I don’t think that will happen, there is no desire for a president who is a western sell out like Yeltsin, it will have to be someone who puts Russian interests first even if it means bad relations with the west continue
Russian media is not exactly independent of the kremlin and would accuse the west of similar actions,Putin poisoning his only opposition leader shows the mentality of his regime ,NATO have not used a chemical weapon on Russian soil but Russia’s GRU have done on UK/NATO soil, I seem to remember when grilling you Ulya on this issue you saying the traitors deserve it lol.
Russia probably would be unstable if Putin suddenly died because Russia’s system is based around one man that being Putin just like the collapse of the USSR,totalitarian regime tend to end badly when their time is up the, financially or other.
Russian media is not the best Dave, I think we have discussed this before, many people my age are bi/multi lingual so read western media to try and get balanced view. Navalny, I see he has become the darling for western media and a major political threat to Putin, that’s cute, have fun with those stories, he is a sell out and corrupt, Putin may have ordered this or there is a long line of other options, I don’t know the answer but I do find it funny how the west portray him. Traitors do deserve to die, Slav are to soft on this with prison, my culture not so forgiving, as for the rest of that comment, we have been there, done that, when you move past trial by media we can discuss again. Russia will go though instability if Putin suddenly dies, but Mishustin is a good man, so maybe not as bad as you hope for, but if we collapse then we rebuild, not the first time in our history
Not sure he’s a darling of the west. I just think we’re a bit incredulous that Putin keeps bumping off his enemies and makes no attempt to cover it up.
The start of the Ukraine conflict always felt like 2 mates having a silly falling out with a girl and it getting out of hand. Need to do more reading on this i think
“Traitors do deserve to die” …… really, quite a chilling comment, Ulya.
I would argue that Putin is portrayed in the UK exactly as you would expect. There is considerable evidence he is implicated in a chemical weapons attack on this county, plus the murder of a critic by plutonium poisoning.
I once visited Russia, it’s a great country – with some great people. But political power should be transient, instead, too often, the fortunes of a politician are confused with the fortunes of Mother Russia.
Clearly, power has dangerously corrupted Putin and his cronies – and you would be well rid of the man.
Spot on Mr Reid.
Hi Ulya. Can I just ask if no one is allowed to oppose Putin (or at least that is the way it seems from what we read in the West) then how is that democracy? Our system is far from perfect, I mean just look at the imbeciles in the UK Government, but at least we know they are accountable and will go when voted out.
It seems that anyone who opposes Putin is labelled as corrupt, criminal, pro-western, then disposed of in one way or another.
On one hand you want relations with the West to be better but on the other support an authoritarian regime that thrives on maintaining the status quo.
@Ulya
The UK’s last opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, had some radical views compared with rest of the political establishment. No attempts were made to harm Him, by poisoning etc!
The fight was a purely political, and he was politically defeated, he is no longer the opposition leader, and been democratically replaced as leader,
is he is still a MP for his constituency.
I hope you learn from our example Ulya?
I forgot to add, A similarly to sport, but with No cheating, Ulya!
Fist of Ulya,
Its always interesting to get a first hand account from someone in Russia, so thanks for that.
I have worked for Russian Companies as a sub contractor in the past connected with civil aviation and the guys working for the company have always been friendly with a great sense of humour.
Sadly, a little like a microcosm of the real world, the one thing they all shared was a genuine and very real fear of the boss and company owner.
You know as well as I do, its largely the Russian way of control and leadership through fear….
Putin has turned the clock back and its more akin to the Soviet Union now, with ever tighter governmental control over the media and ever reducing rights of free speech.
How long for instance would a site (often extremely critical of UK government defence policy and rightly too) like this be operational if based in Russia?
I would guess a Russian George would be “invited in for a chat” and all our IP addresses logged and carefully monitored at the very least.
I personally think its a crying shame that Russia has decided to throw up a new iron curtain around itself and retreat into an aggressive isolationist state of mind.
The world would be a much better place with positive open thinking Russia in it, unfortunately its slipping back to “type” as an authoritarian regime (Czarist or Communist) after a 30 year flirtation with democracy.
Its really very sad to see it happen and I really hope Russia manages to find genuine democracy and individual freedom for its people one day….
It’s late so please forgive me if my English gets lazy or I miss a reply,
Alan, I was raised with strict tribal law, maybe I could of worded more softly about traitor but end result still the same, betray your people for money has no justification. You have evidence re chemical attack, so use it! Move beyond trial by media that I care nothing about, I have said this many time before, if you want me to believe then make legal case and show me proven evidence, I will be happy to then say sorry, it was dick move by Russia. A bullet or knive much more logical
Rob, we have opposition parties, unfortunately the communist being still the second biggest I think, voting for Putin is as much about him and keeping them out. The ones who have died, none have been any political threat to Putin, they have been vocal against him but nothing serious as they have very low support. As for corruption, just follow where they get money from, in the west you say donation we say corruption, I remember seeing article recently about lots of Russian ‘donation’ to UK politicians. To me, office of President holds to much power, recent vote on constitutional was meant to move more power to duma but did not go far enough but democracy is still new to us so baby steps for now. I was not happy about term count going back to zero, I think that was a bad move and should not of been done. Better relationship with west, this needs to be split into 2, I want better with Europe and my work in Germany before covid was very positive. I see no chance of good relation with the US, most of my work is in Iran and ME, this puts me in opposition to them. In regard to the UK, your close relationship to the US makes complications, I don’t know where it goes from here, I have no business interests there so not given much thought.
Sorry, I need to go back to bed, I will try to respond latter to the one I missed answer
Thank you for replying Ulya, it is always interesting to hear your views. The Russian donations to UK politicians is a hot topic here but I am not sure we are any closer to understanding the situation. Democracy in this country is not without problems and corruption.
The impression we get in the UK is that all the power resides with Putin and his inner circle, not with the Duma. Given your comments that might be an over simplification, the truth is often more nuanced than the media portray.
I have never really understood the UK’s closeness with the US. It seems to me to be a marriage of convenience for the sake of security. We have far more in common with our European friends than with much of the population of the US.
When it comes to it, both NATO and Russia play games. They test each other in various ways and seek to undermine the other in the eyes of their populations. It all gets rather boring and predictable. After all, what does Russia really have to fear from the West and vice versa? Better to be friends, but that seems some way off.
The UK Ulya does have the overwhelming evidence indeed ,and would use it if the GRU agents involved were allowed to be extradited to the UK ,but Russia will not let that happen, and its not trial by media Ulya the evidence is pretty clear to just the common eye lol! Russia’s story that the two identified GRU agents went on holiday to visit Salisbury, you really must think we are that stupid lol.
As for Putin’s political Opposition the communist party is there just for looks , Putin holds the real power as shown recently on his grab for life long power.
As I said before you tend to describe Russia how you wish the west to see it, but Russia really does not look like that in reality ,far from it.
Tests conducted in Germany seem to point to Novichok being the Poisonous Substance use on Alexei Navalny.
@Ulya
Could you please direct me to one of those sites, so I can see for my self of those opinions?
I understood the B52s were supposed to be escorted by fighters from the numerous countries they were overflying? I doubt a single Russian would have approached escorting fighters? Come on NATO, get your act together!
I think more the issue is when this kind of dangerous manoeuvring is going to result in one or two aircraft going down through collision.
Nobody wants it to happen and it will be the Russian planes fault as they almost never have transponders on or observe normal flight safety envelopes.
I agree that Putin is always playing the thoughtful strong man card. The act is wearing a bit thin both at home and abroad. Hence the ratings slide.
Saying we don’t want another Yeltsin is a bit silly as Yeltsin was a one off. I don’t think anyone needs another Yeltsin. And I would agree that under Yeltsin the place was carved up into a Kleptocracy.
However, Putin as just made it a tighter Kleptocracy – Putin’s mates only.
Mind you I do wonder about our Doris @ No 10 sometimes…..he is turning out to be pretty useless. There does not seem to be a clear policy thread on anything. But mind you he is probably less damaging than Comrade Corbyn would have been…
Kalingrad to Bornholm is a distance of 225 miles. A round trip well within the capabilities of a Su27.The question needs to be raised why was it necessary for the Su 27 to follow the B52? Did the B52 enter the airspace near Kalingrad? It probably got close to measure Russia’s reaction times, but I doubt it went into their airspace.
Dropping your potatoes off Harold old boy!
🙂
Do the Danes have a QRA? If they do they might just want to make it a little bit quicker.
All the Scandinavian Countries have a QRA capability,as to how it compares to the RAF i couldnt say.
We do. But our sole fighter base is located 400 km away from Bornholm, where the incursion took place.
“Both sides are like children”? How many sides violated sovereign airspace?
The US flying D12 Drones into China.
The US flying Sentinel over Iran.
The US flying U2 over Russia.
The US flying SAC bombers into Siberia.
The US / UK flying Canberra into Russia
The US / UK sailing SSN into Soviet waters.
The US tapping Soviet USC with SSN during “Ivy Bells”
Add the hundreds of unknowns, ongoing, that will never be written of.
It goes on and on and on and, while I won’t side with Russia, I find the hypocricy hillarious when UKDJ erupts because Russia fly’s elderly Bears or the more modern Blackjacks towards NATO. Though I concede the lack of transponder is irresponsible.
Both sides are doing this!
If an enemy aircraft illegally enters our airspace, it should be shot down immediately. A message must be sent to the Kremlin…. DO NOT CROSS OUR BORDERS.
Russia tried to bully the Turkish. The Turks gave them a warning, then at the next instance – shot the intruder down. But then Turkey is a country that stands up for itself. Result – Russian jets got the message plenty quick enough and now do not violate Turkish airspace.
Denmark and NATO’s failure to act in this instance makes the alliance look weak and pathetic. If you are inside our borders you have effectively fired first. Down them.
Personally i dont think starting WW3 over an incursion into ones Airspace is a good idea,however correct in International Law it might appear to be.Turkey took one massive gamble in downing that SU24,but the Russians knew that their adventure in Syria would be bled dry if they had retaliated as Turkey could control all the resupply routes by Air and Sea.