Yesterday the Russian State Aviation Authority - Rosaviatsia - reported that a Russian Aeroflot airliner flying from Tel Aviv to Moscow was forced to change altitude over the Black Sea because a NATO CL-600 reconnaissance plane crossed its route.
The state airline said that flight SU501 carrying 142 passengers, on instructions from air traffic control, had to descend 2.000 feet because another plane was on the same route.
The Russian agency did not say which NATO member the reconnaissance plane belonged to, while the Russian Defense Ministry said, also on Friday, that it had taken off two fighters to remove two US military reconnaissance planes flying over the Black Sea. .
Rosaviatsia pointed out that the increase in NATO aircraft flights in the region is creating more than a few risks for civilian aircraft. Moscow will present a formal diplomatic complaint in the coming days.
International tensions have increased over Ukraine and the Black Sea region. Kiev and NATO accuse Russia of amassing troops close to Ukraine, animating fears of a possible attack. Moscow denies any such plan and accuses Kiev of deploying its forces to the east where Russian-backed separatists control much of Ukrainian territory.