Russian jet fighters Su-27 of the Russian Knights aerobatic team perform during an air show in Kubinka, Russia, May 21, 2016. (Xinhua/Pavel Bednyakov)
A Russian Su-27 fighter jet was scrambled to intercept reconnaissance planes from the United States, Germany and Sweden over the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday.
"On August 24, Russian airspace control systems detected three air targets approaching the Russian border over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea," the ministry's Zvezda broadcasting service said.
A Su-27 fighter from the air defense forces of the Baltic Fleet was scrambled to intercept the targets, it added.
The crew of the Russian fighter identified the air targets as a US Air Force RC-135 strategic reconnaissance plane, a Swedish Gulfstream reconnaissance plane and a German P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, it said.
According to Zvezda, the German plane was flying toward the Russian border at an altitude of just 500 meters and at a speed of 250 kilometers per hour, in a likely effort to avoid detection.
After the foreign planes flew away from the Russian state border, the Russian jet safely returned to its airfield, Zvezda said.
The Russian aircraft proceeded in strict compliance with international airspace rules, it added.