Fighter jet incursion latest in series of provocative Russian military moves

The Russian fighter jet that flew within five feet of a U.S. Navy plane over the Black Sea Monday was just the latest in a series of provocative military moves authorized by Moscow to test American and NATO defenses.

The State Department swiftly criticized Russia for “flagrantly” violating international law, but U.S. officials have been on high alert since April, when Moscow flew two bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons, although apparently unarmed, within 100 miles of Alaska’s Kodiak Island.

While the April incursion was resolved without escalation — the Russian TU-95 Bear bombers turned around after two U.S. F-22s scrambled to escort them away from the island — Moscow followed the incident two months later with another provocative move.

In June, a Russian fighter flew toward a U.S. Air Force surveillance plane over the Baltic Sea with a “high rate of closure speed and poor control of the aircraft,” U.S. European Command said, according to Stars and Stripes.

It was not clear whether the Russian pilot was flying out of control or was engaged in a deceptive maneuver to get dangerously close to American aircraft in the area. American officials who monitored the incident have said the Russian jet flew within a few feet of a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea.

Another incident came in November, when, according to Stars and Stripes, a Russian fighter crossed within 50 feet of another U.S. surveillance aircraft flying over the Black Sea — blasting its afterburners and forcing the American aircraft into a stream of turbulence that caused the plane to tilt into a 15-degree roll.

Officials say there has also been an uptick in Russian submarine activity in the Black and Mediterranean seas and beyond during recent years. In December, the United Kingdom’s military warned that Russian vessels may be trolling communications and internet cables that run along the ocean floor in several corners of the world.

Britain’s Royal Navy followed the warning by scrambling to escort a Russian warship through the North Sea after it had approached British waters. The Royal Navy said in a statement at the time that it had detected an “upsurge” in Russian naval activity in the region.

A 2016 report by the European Leadership Network, a London-based think tank, cautioned that “dangerous military-military and military-civilian incidents involving ships or aircraft of Russia, NATO member states, and third parties continue to pose a serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security.”

“Their broader escalation potential should not be ignored, especially at the current period of high Russia-West tensions,” the report said.

The State Department said the latest incident involved a Russian Su-27 jet crossing directly in front of the flight path of the American jet in international airspace over the Black Sea.

Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said U.S. officials viewed the incident with “the highest level of concern” and that the Russian’s risked a midair collision. Ms. Nauert called it “the latest example of Russian military activities disregarding international norms and agreements.”