2023-04-30 15:12:58
Recently, Russian and American fighter jets came dangerously close to each other over Syria. Now the American side is making serious allegations.
When does a provocation become a fight? And when does a fight even turn into a war? It is these two questions that are currently preoccupying the US Central Command. In the past few weeks, there have been repeated encounters between US and Russian fighter jets over Syria. And they might become dangerous at some point.
Both countries are militarily active in the air there. The US broadcaster CNN quotes a spokesman for the US Central Command, according to which Russian pilots have repeatedly tried to provoke the Americans in the air in recent weeks. This is a pattern of new, more aggressive behavior.
According to American Colonel Joe Buccino, the Russians were not interested in shooting down the Americans directly. It’s just regarding getting the United States involved in “an international incident,” according to CNN. The broadcaster also reports a video from April 2 of a Russian SU-35 fighter jet intercepting a US fighter jet with “unsafe and unprofessional” behavior.
A dangerous closeness that the Russians are explicitly looking for
Another video, this time from April 18, is said to show a Russian plane exiting agreed airspace and approaching a US plane to within a little over 600 meters – a distance that fighter jets can cover in seconds.
It’s a dangerous proximity that the Russian soldiers are looking for in the airspace. And which is being noted with great concern in America. Mainly because the incidents are part of a series of incidents. 85 violations of agreed protocols by Russian jets have been recorded in the US since early March. It is regarding certain, agreed areas that both parties should not actually leave. However, the Russians apparently do not always stick to it.
“It seems consistent with a new way of working,” the official said, according to CNN. US pilots refused to take part in the dogfights. They were adhering to the protocols that were agreed, the official added.
In March, a Russian fighter jet collided with a US drone over the Black Sea, CNN reports. The collision damaged the drone’s propellers, causing it to fall into the water. At the time, the US described the incident as “unsafe, unprofessional” and “reckless” from the Russian side.
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