RAF jets intercept Russian nuclear bombers over North Sea
RAF jets intercept Russian nuclear bombers over North Sea as Britain sends troops to help defend Polish borders from Putin-backed ‘weaponised migrants’
Fighters were scrambled from RAF Lossiemouth and Coningsby on Friday2 Russian Tu-160 ‘White Swan’ bombers entered ‘UK area of interest,’ MoD saidComes as British Royal Engineers were sent to help ‘recon’ on Polish borderRussia today had paratroopers carrying out snap drills at the Belarus-Poland lineKremlin is backing a ‘hybrid war’ with migrants being sent to the EU borderMeanwhile, there are Russian soldiers at Ukrainian border for possible invasion
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RAF fighter jets have been sent to intercept two Russian nuclear bombers over the North Sea after British troops were deployed at the Polish border amid a Kremlin-backed migrant crisis.
The Typhoons were scrambled from Lossiemouth, Scotland, and Coningsby, Lincolnshire, along with a refuelling jet from Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, on Friday.
The two Russian Tu-160 ‘White Swan’ bombers entered ‘the UK area of interest,’ the MoD confirmed, without giving further details.
Radar radar data suggested the Kremlin warplanes were retreating north into international airspace over the North Sea at around 12.45pm.
The incursion comes with Europe at battle stations: Vladimir Putin is backing a ‘hybrid war’ using migrants to sow chaos at Poland’s border, while he sends tens of thousands of troops to the border with Ukraine for a possible invasion.
The CIA last night warned European officials to brace for an assault to capture territory in eastern Ukraine, similar to the 2014 annexation of the Crimea.
British Royal Engineers were today deployed along the Polish frontier with Kremlin-backed Belarus to carry out ‘reconnaissance’ with their NATO allies.
Flight tracking data showed an RAF Voyager Tanker from RAF Brize Norton was sent to shadow the incident over the North Sea
Radar showed a NATO warplane was dispatched from Cologne and circled around the Norwegian coast before heading back to Germany.
A Typhoon fighter jet over RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire (file photo)
A Russian Tu-160 (the closer jet) over Belarusian airspace today
Fears are growing of an imminent conflict in eastern Europe as Russia and Belarus carry out snap military drills close to where a migrant crisis is playing out on Poland’s border, while Washington warns Putin is preparing to invade eastern Ukraine
‘Our soldiers will co-operate in strengthening the fence of the Polish-Belarusian border,’ Poland’s defence minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, said.
The Ministry of Defence said: ‘A small team of UK Armed Forces personnel have deployed following an agreement with the Polish Government to explore how we can provide engineering support to address the ongoing situation at the Belarus border.’
As military hardware massed on Ukraine’s eastern front, the Kremlin today announced it was sending paratroopers to the Belarus-Poland frontier for snap drills just 30 miles from where the migrants are camped.
‘A unit of Russian paratroopers will practise a landing in an unknown territory in the Hrodna region of Belarus on November 12 as part of drills to inspect combat readiness of the paratrooper forces,’ the Russian defence ministry said.
Russian nuclear bombers were also flying over Belarus for a third day running as Putin remained firmly behind Lukashenko.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force said that it had dispatched two F-16 fighters to intercept the bombers before handing over to allies from the RAF.
Flight tracking data showed a NATO warplane was dispatched from Cologne and circled around the Norwegian coast before heading back to Germany.
An RAF spokesman said: ‘Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon fighters from RAF Lossiemouth & Coningsby, supported by a Voyager Tanker from RAF Brize Norton, have been launched against an unidentified aircraft approaching the UK area of interest.
‘We will not be offering any additional detail on this ongoing operation until complete.’
Russia and Belarus said paratroopers from both countries had been involved in joint drills in Gozhsky today, located just 20 miles from the Polish border where migrants are trying to cross
The Belarusian defence ministry said the troops practiced capturing bridges, hunting down and destroying targets, and defeating enemy patrols during the drill to ‘test combat readiness’
The surprise training mission came as it was revealed British military engineers are now at the border to strengthen the defences, amid warnings from all sides that the situation risks spilling over into armed conflict
Poland has deployed some 15,000 troops to its eastern border where they have spent much of this week trying to hold back thousands of migrants that Lukashenko’s regime is accused of forcing into the region
Poland, along with the leaders of nearby Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, has been warning that the crisis has the potential to spill over into a full-blown conflict
The military drills are taking place just 20 miles from the Kuznica border crossing with Poland, where thousands of migrants are currently gathered trying to cross over
Poland has reported dozens of attempts to cross the border today, including a group of migrants who broke through the Belarusian side of the crossing and began trying to cross the Polish side of the fence
