MiG-31 aircraft will conduct patrols over the Black Sea

Russian MiG-31 military aircraft will begin “permanent patrolling” of the space over the Black Sea. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this at a press conference in China.

He emphasized that these planes are armed with “Kynzhal” hypersonic missile systems. When such an aircraft takes off in Ukraine, as a rule, an air alert is announced.

Putin stated that the decision on the patrol had already been made, and explained it by the fact that the United States, in his opinion, is increasingly “drawn into the conflict” in Ukraine, and also sent two aircraft carrier groups to the Mediterranean Sea in connection with the conflict between Israel and the Hamas group in the Gaza Strip. “We will carry out visual control, control with the help of weapons, of what is happening in the Mediterranean Sea,” Putin said.

He also commented on the delivery of long-range American ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, which was confirmed the day before in Kyiv and Washington. According to Putin, such supplies will only prolong the “agony” of Ukraine. At the same time, he said that he sees some signals that the authorities of Ukraine may agree to negotiations with Russia, but this, according to him, is not enough, and the ban on such negotiations should be lifted. Putin did not specify what he meant.

American Reaper drones often patrol the international space over the Black Sea. One of them fell into the sea in March of this year as a result of an incident involving two Russian fighter jets. He was not shot down, but the fighters made sharp maneuvers that knocked him off course and even hit his hull. In the USA, the actions of the pilots were called dangerous and unprofessional.

It was also reported that in the fall of last year, Russian planes almost shot down a British reconnaissance plane with about 30 people on board. Fire was opened on him, but the Russian pilot missed. In London, they did not accuse Russia of deliberate actions, although, as a number of mass media claimed with reference to the available data, the pilot fired deliberately, having misunderstood the command from the ground.