Russian jet chases NATO plane away from defence minister’s aircraft: Report

Reports said a Spanish F-18 jet based in Lithuania had tried to approach Shoigu’s plane, prompting one of two Russian SU-27 fighter jets accompanying him to see it off.

A Russian fighter jet saw off a NATO warplane after it approached a plane carrying Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu over neutral waters in the Baltic Sea, the TASS news agency reported on Tuesday.

Shoigu had flown to Kaliningrad to attend a ceremony marking the start of construction of a new military academy. (Reuters FILE)

Shoigu’s aircraft had been returning to Moscow from the Russian Baltic region of Kaliningrad - which is surrounded by Poland and Lithuania - and was carrying a TASS reporter on board, the agency said.

It said a Spanish F-18 jet based in Lithuania had tried to approach Shoigu’s plane, prompting one of two Russian SU-27 fighter jets accompanying him to see it off.

A video of the incident shown on Russian state media showed a Russian jet sharply banking to the left in the direction of the NATO plane, forcing it to veer leftwards itself.

Shoigu had flown to Kaliningrad to attend a ceremony marking the start of construction of a new military academy.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.)