It has for many months been clear that the world is one incident away from witnessing WW3 in eastern Europe, as NATO gets ever-more deeply involved in Ukraine, and given Moscow has recently issued threats to attack Western airbases housing aircraft which could be deployed in the country.
NATO aircraft, including drones, have also been busier than ever over the Black Sea, just off Russia. Already this has resulted in confrontations like the March 14, 2023 incident in which a Russian Su-27 fighter jet intercepted and damaged an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, causing it to crash in the Black Sea.
This could easily happen again, and the Kremlin on Friday is sounding the alarm over an encroaching US presence over the Black Sea. It is preparing new "rapid response measures" to deal with potential incidents in nearby airspace.
Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov has ordered the armed forces to prepare to "react to provocations" due to NATO's increasing involvement in the Ukraine war. The statement was translated and featured in national media reports.
He specifically cited the "increased number of US strategic drone missions flown over the Black Sea" and described that the aircraft "conduct reconnaissance and provide targeting data for weapons, which Western nations supply to conduct strikes on Russian objects."
"Such flights increase the probability that incidents may happen in airspace involving Russian military aircraft and the risk of a direct confrontation of the alliance with the Russian Federation," defense chief Belousov warned additionally.
"NATO members will be held responsible in the event of any such incident," the defense ministry statement added. Possibly Russia could down another NATO drone over the Black Sea in order to send a 'message'.
The warning comes days after the deadly Crimean beach attack which involved Ukraine utilizing its US-supplied ATACMS systems, and also as Kiev is set to receive F-16 fighter jets from European allies.
Russia warns the US that its reconnaissance drone flights over the Black Sea raise the risk of "direct confrontation" between Moscow and NATO https://t.co/147tXwcNo5
— TRT World (@trtworld) June 28, 2024
The jets are expected to be transferred at some point this summer, but already Kiev says it could keep many of them at NATO bases outside Ukraine, such as in Poland or Romania.
President Putin himself has directly warned that any base from which a jet used to attack Russian forces is launched could come under attack, even if it is not in Ukraine.
