MOSCOW. Dec 7 (Interfax) - The Russian military on Monday scrambled a Sukhoi Su-30 fighter after seeing American and French reconnaissance aircraft approach the Russian border over the Black Sea.
"The Russian fighter crew identified the aerial target as a strategic RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft and a KC-135 refueling aircraft, both of the U.S. Air Force, and a C-160G aircraft of the French Air Force, and accompanied them over the Black Sea waters," Russia's National Defense Control Center said.
"After the foreign warplanes turned away from the Russian Federation national border, the Russian fighter safely returned to air base. The Russian fighter flew strictly in accordance with the international rules for airspace use," the statement said.