Russians buzz U.S. reconnaissance plane over Baltic Sea

A Russian jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. reconnaissance plane operating in the Baltic Sea last week, the latest in a string of dangerous encounters with Russian forces in the region, according to the Pentagon.

The Russian aircraft, an SU-27 fighter, operated in an “unsafe and unprofessional” manner when it approached the RC-135 reconnaissance plane, the U.S. military said in a statement Saturday.

Russian war planes buzz U.S. destroyer in Baltic

Thursday's incident came two days after a U.S. warship operating in the same region was buzzed by Russian aircraft numerous times.

“There have been repeated incidents over the last year where Russian military aircraft have come close enough to other air and sea traffic to raise serious safety concerns, and we are very concerned with any such behavior,” the Pentagon statement said.

On Tuesday, Russian aircraft flew aggressively toward the USS Donald Cook, a destroyer operating in the Baltic Sea. The destroyer suspended flight operations on its deck because of the Russian aircraft.

The Russian Defense Ministry last week denied operating unsafely around the USS Cook and said its pilots “fully observed all safety measures.”

U.S. officials have said the aggressive tactics risk inadvertently triggering an escalation of hostilities between the two countries.

“The unsafe and unprofessional actions of a single pilot have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries,” the Pentagon said.