The RAF has scrambled Typhoon fighters to intercept ‘unknown’ aircraft approaching UK airspace, just a day after jets escorted four Russian bombers away from the coast of Scotland.
A spokesman confirmed that the Typhoons, launched from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland, have been joined by a Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
He added that further information would not be disclosed ‘on this ongoing operation until complete’.
The news comes after RAF jets responded to four Russian strategic bombers approaching the UK’s ‘area of interest’ yesterday.
Vladimir Putin is continuing to ratchet up the pressure on Ukraine, massing nuclear-capable missiles and 30,000 troops in Belarus, according to NATO, amid fears of a huge refugee crisis if Ukraine invasion goes ahead.
A dramatic video yesterday revealed the moment RAF Typhoon fighter jets escorted a quartet of Russian aircraft off the coast of Scotland after they headed towards UK airspace over the North Sea.
The Typhoons were scrambled from Lossiemouth in Moray after two Russian Tu-95 Bear H bombers and two maritime patrol Tu-142 Bear F aircraft were tracked by the RAF near the ‘UK’s area of interest’ over the North Sea.
After a mid-air standoff of several minutes yesterday afternoon they were escorted away without entering UK airspace – with the incident coming just hours before Russian president Vladimir Putin and Boris Johnson spoke.
The Russian footage highlights a mission that came soon after Mr Johnson’s return from a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday and before he warned the Kremlin leader yesterday that an attack on Ukraine would be a ‘tragic miscalculation’.
The ‘area of interest’ is further from the British Isles and includes international airspace, but the UK is responsible for policing it and providing air traffic control services. While such operations are not unusual, the timing of the incident on the day that the Prime Minister and Mr Putin spoke in a phone call gave it additional significance.
As tensions continued to mount with more than 100,000 Russian troops now massed on the border with Ukraine:
- Jens Stoltenberg, NATO general secretary, said today that Russia has already deployed thousands of troops;
- Included Iskander missiles that can be tipped with nukes, fighter jets, and S-400 anti-aircraft systems;
- Intel suggests that Putin will grow that force to 30,000 troops within the coming days, Stoltenberg added;
- Particular concern over troops stationed in Belarus because it gives them the shortest route to attack Kiev;
- Ministers were warned Britain faces a wave of Russian cyber-attacks over of its staunch support for Ukraine;
- Mr Johnson expressed his ‘deep concern’ about Russian aggression during his call with President Putin;
- Mr Putin said after the conversation that the West was giving no ground on Russia’s security concerns.
- US President Joe Biden unveiled a plan to send thousands more troops and weapons to the region;
- Russia has built up tanks, artillery, helicopters, warplanes and aircraft near the Ukraine border.
Russian footage shows the RAF escorting two Russian Tu-95 Bear H strategic bombers off the coast of Scotland yesterday
The Russian footage featured this video from inside the cockpit of the one of the four Bear aircraft involved yesterday
Two Russian Tu-95 Bear H bombers and two maritime patrol Tu-142 Bear F aircraft were tracked by the RAF yesterday
The video revealed the moment RAF Typhoon fighter jets escorted a quartet of Russian aircraft off the coast of Scotland
Multiple Typhoons from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray were involved in the mission off the coast of Scotland yesterday
Russian tanks take part in combat drills in Belarus on Wednesday, ahead of much larger drills set to take place next week
An RAF spokesman told MailOnline last night: ‘Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon fighters based at RAF Lossiemouth supported by a Voyager from RAF Brize Norton were scrambled against unidentified aircraft approaching the UK area of interest. Subsequently we intercepted and escorted four Russian Bear aircraft.’
The Tu-95 is the only propeller-powered strategic bomber still in operational use today, and the plane first flew 70 years ago.
The Tu-95s had flown from Engels air base in Saratov region, with the Tu-142 flying from Kipelovo air base in Vologda region.
A Russian report said: ‘In the course of the flight, the crews of Tu-95 aircraft practiced aerial refuelling. The flight time was about 15 hours.
‘At some stages of the route, the Russian strategic missile carriers were accompanied by Eurofighter Typhoon fighters of the British Air Force.’
In November last year, jets were launched in response to Russian TU-160 Blackjack strategic bombers.
Officials said at the time that the fighters escorted the Russian aircraft out of the area of interest and that the bombers did not enter UK airspace.
In another dramatic episode, a Royal Navy warship continued its monitoring mission yesterday as a pair of Russian naval vessels transited through the English Channel.
HMS Argyle, a Type 23 frigate, assumed responsibility for escorting the Soobrazitelniy and the Stoykiy from the French Navy earlier this week. The Ministry of Defence described the move as a ‘normal response’.
Yesterday, Mr Johnson warned Mr Putin that an invasion of Ukraine would be a ‘tragic miscalculation’ during a phone call between the two leaders.
The Prime Minister expressed his ‘deep concern’ about Russian aggression in a call that had been delayed because of the Partygate allegations.
The tense conversation came as US President Joe Biden unveiled a plan to send thousands more troops and weapons to the region.
The call with Mr Putin – which lasted between four or five minutes – follows Mr Johnson’s diplomatic trip to Ukraine on Tuesday.
He held a joint press conference with its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he vowed to unleash immediate sanctions ‘the moment the first Russian toe cap’ crosses into Ukraine.
More than 100,000 Russian troops are massed on the country’s border, with many positioned on Ukraine’s northern border in Belarus, Russia’s ally.
Downing Street said of yesterday’s call: ‘The Prime Minister expressed his deep concern about Russia’s current hostile activity on the Ukrainian border.
‘He emphasised the need to find a way forward which respects both Ukraine’s territorial integrity and right to self-defence. The Prime Minister stressed that any further Russian incursion into Ukrainian territory would be a tragic miscalculation.’
Russia is moving tens of thousands of troops into Belarus backed by tanks, fighters, anti-aircraft systems and nuclear-capable missiles, NATO says (pictured, Russian tanks in Belarus)
Russian armoured personnel carriers take part in drills in Belarus on Wednesday, amid fears the exercises could provide cover for an invasion
A map showing where Putin’s forces have assembled on Ukraine’s borders, the military options Putin might be considering, and key targets he would likely go after in the event he chooses to invade – something the US continues to war could be just weeks away from happening
Russian defence minister Sergey Shoigu (left) meets with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko (right) and Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin (centre) today
Russian military footage shows Iskander missile launchers taking part in drills in western Russia, close to the border with Ukraine
Russian Iskander missiles are pictured on a military base in western Belarus, close to the border with Ukraine, on January 30
Boris Johnson spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a tense phone call yesterday and later issued this tweet
A Ukrainian marine border guard walks on the deck of a boat after a patrol yesterday near Mariupol in Donetsk, Ukraine
Ukrainian border guards patrol the border with Russia yesterday not far from Hoptivka village in Kharkiv region, Ukraine
A photograph released by the Russians on Tuesday shows a sniper firing during a military exercise in Nizhny Novgorod
A spokesman said Mr Johnson told Mr Putin that Ukraine had the right to join Nato, and emphasised that the alliance was defensive.
She added: ‘The leaders agreed that aggravation was in no-one’s interest. The Prime Minister stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy, and the need to include Ukraine in talks.’
President Putin said after the conversation that the West was giving no ground on Russia’s security concerns.
In a significant show of force yesterday, President Biden announced that he was sending about 2,000 US-based troops to Poland and Germany and shifting 1,000 soldiers from Germany to Romania.
The Pentagon said it was a demonstration of US commitment to allies on Nato’s eastern flank amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. The moves were not permanent but designed to reassure allies at a time of tension.
‘It’s important that we send a strong signal to Mr Putin and to the world of the US commitment to Nato,’ Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said.
Snipers move during a military exercise in the Nizhny Novgorod Region in this image issued by the Russians on Tuesday
The Russians released this image yesterday of Russian T-72B3 tanks firing during military drills at Golovenki near Moscow
Russian and Belarusian armored vehicles drive during a joint military drills at Brestsky firing range in Belarus yesterday
Boris Johnson speaks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine during a diplomatic visit on Tuesday
He said France would send troop reinforcements to Romania, and other European Nato countries are considering adding forces. Russia denounced the deployment and warned that they would complicate the crisis.
‘The unfounded destructive steps will only fuel military tensions and narrow the field for political decisions,’ Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said.
The US already has several thousand troops in Poland, and Romania is host to a Nato missile defence system that Russia considers a threat to its security.
Poland’s defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak wrote on Twitter that the US deployment to his country was ‘a strong signal of solidarity in response to the situation in Ukraine’.
Russia’s build-up in areas near the Ukraine border includes tanks, artillery, helicopters, warplanes and aircraft. Russian officials have insisted that Moscow has no intention of invading.
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