Russian Fighter Jet 'Released Missile' While Following U.K. Spy Plane

A Russian fighter aircraft released a missile while following a British jet last month, the U.K. defense secretary Ben Wallace has told MPs.

Wallace said on Thursday that two Sukhoi Su-27 jets had been shadowing an RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint spy plane in international airspace on September 29 when the incident took place.

Wallace told British lawmakers "it is not unusual for aircraft to be shadowed and this day was no different," but that one of the Russian aircraft "released a missile in the vicinity of the Rivet Joint beyond visual range."

He said that the interaction between the aircraft was around 90 minutes and that "the patrol completed and the aircraft returned to base."

Wallace said that Rivet Joint patrols were suspended and that the Russians told the U.K. on October 10, that following an investigation it had concluded that a "technical malfunction" was to blame for the missile being released.

British media outlets reported that Moscow had acknowledged the incident took place in international airspace.

The Twitter account of Air and Sea Intel tweeted an image of a flight path of the RAF Rivet Joint passing over southern Ukraine and across part of the Black Sea, which lies off both the Russian and Ukrainian coasts and has been the scene of hostilities since the start of Vladimir Putin's invasion.

British MPs were told that details of the incident had been shared with British allies and that patrols have restarted but the Rivet Joints are now escorted by fighter jets.

"Everything we do is considered calibrated with regard to ongoing conflict in the region and in accordance with international law," Wallace said.

"We welcome Russia's acknowledgement that this was in international airspace, and the UK has conducted regular sorties with the RAF Rivet Joint in international airspace over the Black Sea since 2019 and we will continue to do so."

Luke Pollard, shadow defense minister for the opposition Labour Party, said that the incident was "a serious reminder about the importance of avoiding escalation and miscalculation while continuing the UK's united support for Ukraine."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment.

The revelation comes amid high tensions between Russia and NATO and concern that Putin's invasion of Ukraine could become more widespread across the continent.

Also on Thursday, Kyiv said that Russia had carried out more than 300 air strikes on Ukraine's power infrastructure since October 10.

Ukraine's President Volodymr Zelensky said a third of all power plants had been struck and that restrictions on electricity usage have been put in place across the country for the first time since February.

Update 10/20/2022, 8:54 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.