UK, US and NATO carry out 12-hour patrol on Russian border amid Ukraine war | Aviation news

Allied forces launched joint patrols near Russia after reports of drone strikes in allied airspace.

The UK said two Royal Air Force aircraft joined a 12-hour NATO patrol earlier this week near the Russian border, following a series of Russian drone and aircraft strikes in NATO airspace.

“This was a major joint mission with our allies in the United States and NATO,” Defense Secretary John Healey said on Saturday, as concerns grew. Russia’s war in Ukraine It will extend to Europe.

He added: “This not only provides valuable intelligence to enhance the operational awareness of our armed forces, but also sends a strong message of NATO unity to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and our adversaries.”

The mission included an RC-135 Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft and a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flying from the Arctic region through Belarus and Ukraine, supported by a USAF KC-135 refueling aircraft.

British officials said the operation followed several incursions into the airspace of NATO members, including Poland, Romania and Estonia.

Increasing tensions in the airspace

in Recent weeksPoland and its allies have strengthened their air defenses amid increasing Russian drone activity. Earlier this month, Warsaw deployed additional systems along its border with Ukraine — which extends about 530 kilometers (330 miles) — after unidentified drones briefly entered Polish airspace.

Poland temporarily closed part of its airspace southeast of Warsaw in late September during a major Russian attack through Ukraine. It was the second such incident this year, with Polish and NATO forces previously intercepting Russian drones that crossed the border – the first direct military clash with Moscow since World War II. Large-scale invasion Ukraine starting in 2022.

Elsewhere, airports in Germany, Denmark, Norway and Poland have at times temporarily halted flights due to sightings of unidentified drones. Romania and Estonia directly accused Russia, rejecting these allegations as “baseless.”

Putin pledged a “major” response to what he called the “militarization of Europe,” dismissing suggestions that Moscow was planning to attack NATO as “nonsense.”

“They don’t believe what they say, that Russia will attack NATO,” he said Thursday at a foreign policy forum in Sochi. “They are either incredibly incompetent if they really believe it because it is impossible to believe this nonsense, or they are simply not being honest.”

Putin said he was closely monitoring European military reinforcements and warned that Russia would not hesitate to respond. “In Germany, for example, it is said that the German army should become the strongest in Europe. Very well. We hear that and watch to see what is meant by it,” he said. He added, “Russia will never show weakness or hesitation. We cannot simply ignore what is happening.”

Relations between Moscow and the European Union have continued to deteriorate since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, prompting the bloc to bolster its collective defenses amid concerns the war could spill over across NATO borders.