NATO F-16 Driven Away from Russian Defense Minister’s Plane

PRESS RELEASE

NATO F-16 Driven Away from Russian Defense Minister’s Plane

June 21, 2017 (EIRNS)—A NATO F-16 supersonic multi-role fighter attempted to get close to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s plane over neutral Baltic waters near Kaliningrad today, but was chased away by a Russian Su-27 jet, Sputnik International reported today.

Shoigu was en route to the westernmost Russian city of Kaliningrad when the F-16 attempted to make an approach.

Russia’s Sukhoi Su-27 fighter, one of the aircraft escorting Shoigu’s plane, then displayed its weapons, prompting the F-16 to retreat.

On June 6, the Russian Defense Ministry said it scrambled an Su-27 air superiority fighter over the Baltics to intercept and escort a U.S. B-52 strategic bomber that approached its borders. On May 12, the ministry said Moscow scrambled an Su-30 fighter plane on May 9 over the Black Sea to intercept a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft.