The U.S. Navy has posted a video showing one of its aircraft being intercepted by a Russian jet in international airspace over the Black Sea.
A November 5 statement accompanying the video called the Russian SU-27 plane's interaction with the U.S. EP-3 Aries electronic warfare and reconnaissance aircraft "irresponsible" and "unsafe" due to "a highspeed pass directly in front of the [U.S.] aircraft."
“The intercepting SU-27 made an additional pass, closing with the EP-3 and applying its afterburner while conducting a banking turn away,” the statement added.
It said the intercept lasted about 25 minutes.
The Russian Embassy in Washington tweeted that its crew was "preventing a violation of Russian airspace and followed all necessary safety procedures."
The interaction occurred at about 10 a.m. on November 5, according to Russia's Defense Ministry.
Encounters between Russian and U.S. as well as NATO warplanes have increased as Moscow has been seeking to demonstrate its resurgent military might.
Such incidents have added tension to Russia's relationship with the West, which has been severely strained by Moscow's takeover of Crimea, its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, and its alleged meddling in the U.S. election in 2016, among other things.
In September, the Pentagon issued a protest after U.S. Air Force fighter jets intercepted two Russian long-range bombers in international air space west of the U.S. state of Alaska.
