NATO put Spanish fighters on high alert after the incident with a Russian Su-35 in the Black Sea

NATO sources have confirmed that last Friday Spanish fighters stationed in Romania were put on alert after the incident involving a Russian Su-35 fighter-bomber and a plane from the EU border control agency, Frontex, which briefly lost control. control after a dangerous maneuver of the Russian apparatus.

“The units placed on alert were Spanish aircraft assigned to our enhanced air surveillance mission for Romania,” a NATO spokesman explained.. The source recalled that NATO has allocated additional resources for the surveillance of the eastern borders as a result of the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014..

In particular, NATO air surveillance forces have been strengthened in the Baltic countries, it has sent aircraft to Poland and the surveillance capacity of the Bulgarian and Romanian air forces has been increased..

On Friday, a Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet came dangerously close to a Polish L-410 Turbolet aircraft conducting a patrol for Frontex in international airspace in the Romanian deployment region, the Polish border protection agency has denounced..

The agency accused the Russian fighter jet of carrying out “aggressive and dangerous maneuvers”, approaching the L-410 on three occasions at a distance of just five meters.. As a result, the crew temporarily lost control of the turboprop..

The Let, with two pilots and three border protection officers on board, ended up losing altitude but was able to land safely thanks to the skill and “great composure” of the pilots.. Russian planes have repeatedly approached EU and NATO planes over the Black Sea since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, sometimes leading to dangerous situations.