US releases video of Russian fighter flying within 5 feet of surveillance aircraft

The U.S. on Tuesday released a video showing a Russian military jet flying within 5 feet of a U.S. Navy surveillance plane. 

The video, taken while the U.S. plane was flying in international airspace over the Black Sea, shows the Russian Su-27 jet veering directly into the EP-3 Aries’s flight path. 

According to U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, the Russian fighter also crossed directly into the U.S. plane’s flight path. 

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Officials said in a statement that the U.S. aircraft did not provoke the Russian fighter. The EP-3 was operating in accordance with international law, they added. 

Russian and U.S. aircraft have had unsafe encounters over the Black Sea before. A Russian fighter jet cut in front of a U.S. Navy plane over the sea in November, causing the American aircraft to fly through “violent turbulence.”

U.S. and Russian aircraft have also had a number of encounters over Syria. Those include an incident in December, when U.S. F-22 jets fired warning flares after a Russian fighter jet flew east of the Euphrates River, which is considered a deconfliction line.