The fighters passed at a record low altitude.
Two Russian fighter jets approached a NATO naval unit off the coast of Poland at low altitude. According to NATO, two Russian fighter jets approached the ships of the alliance operating in the Baltic Sea and carried out a dangerous maneuver. During Thursday's incident, the aircraft flew past the SNMG1 naval unit at a distance of only about 73 meters, NATO's responsible headquarters in Northwood said. The height of the flight was only 300 feet, which corresponds to about 91 meters. The pilots did not respond to attempts to communicate. The incident became public domain with a two-day delay because “sometimes it takes time to gather the facts,” a NATO representative wrote, WELT reports.
The NATO press service added that these were Su-24 two-seater tactical bombers, which had the NATO code name “Fechter”. The SNMG1 naval unit was located less than 50 kilometers from the Polish port city of Gdansk.
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The press secretary did not say how the crews of the ships reacted to the approach of the plane and which units were involved. She added that the Russian planes were apparently not armed with missiles.
According to NATO, the maneuver was particularly risky because the Russian pilots were flying in an area considered a danger zone and currently used by the alliance for anti-aircraft exercises. Therefore, this approach should be classified as “dangerous and unprofessional” because it increases the risk of miscalculations, errors and accidents, according to the headquarters in Northwood.
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As reported on November 15 during the Russian a rocket attack in the village of Przewodów, Lublin Voivodeship, near the Polish-Ukrainian border, killed two people. An investigation is currently underway to determine whose missile it was – a Russian one that was intended to attack western Ukraine but missed, or a Ukrainian air defense missile that was trying to shoot down a Russian missile. In any case, both Poland and other western countries blame Russia for the tragedy, because this situation would not have happened if the Russian Federation had not started a war. The President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, suggested that this isnot the last case when a Russian missile hits the territory of Poland.
