VIDEO – French military planes “intercepted” by Russian fighters over the Black Sea – LCI

These are images worthy of Top Gun which are shown in the video at the top of this article. This video from the French General Staff shows the interior of the cockpit of a French fighter plane. In the images, we can see the pilot flying in the middle of a sea of ​​clouds, before another aircraft suddenly positions itself to the left of the plane. It is a Sukhoi Su-27, a Russian army fighter plane.

This attempted intimidation took place on Thursday. According to the French army, several French planes had gone on a surveillance mission. While in the international zone, two Russian planes position themselves behind them and follow them for an hour, before turning back.

According to a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry, three Su-27 fighters were sent to intercept and escort American and French military planes flying near its borders in the Black Sea. The two French fighters Mirage 2000 and Rafale, a KC-135 refueler from the French air force as well as two American reconnaissance planes would then have turned around. Russian warplanes would then have entered their base.

This scenario is not trivial. The day before, a similar event had already been reported. Moscow had announced that it had intercepted and escorted three French aircraft over the Black Sea. Incidents that are accumulating as relations between Russia and the West have been extremely tense in recent weeks. The West thus accuse Moscow of massing troops on the Ukrainian border for a military operation.

In this context, France is monitoring this situation, in particular by photographing the area via satellites. “What we are observing are movements of infantry regiments, artillery movements, armored cavalry movements, so in fact, potentially the establishment of an order of battle which could lead to an invasion. . Obviously, the Russians are not happy that we are leading this kind of mission. “, explains Olivier Schmitt, professor at the Institut des Hautes Études de Défense Nationale. Indeed, France then shares this information with NATO.

For its part, Moscow denies any bellicose inclination and accuses the NATO countries of increasing “Provocation” for example by carrying out military maneuvers near its borders in the Black Sea. The Russian government thus disseminated images of French planes which would have tried to penetrate its airspace. The information was immediately denied by the French army.