The British government said Wednesday that two Russian fighter jets intercepted a Royal Air Force surveillance aircraft over the Black Sea last month in what it described as a dangerous incident that increased the risk of escalation between NATO and Russia.

The UK Rivet ⁠Joint aircraft was unarmed and carrying out routine surveillance in international airspace over the Black Sea, the ministry said in a statement.

It was repeatedly intercepted by a Russian Su-35 aircraft, which flew close enough to trigger emergency systems on the British plane, it said. A ⁠Russian ⁠Su-27 conducted six passes, flying six meters from the Rivet Joint's nose.

The incident was the most dangerous Russian action against a UK surveillance plane since 2022 when a nearby Russian plane released a missile over the Black Sea, ⁠in what Moscow later called a technical malfunction.

RAF planes routinely carry out surveillance with allies to secure NATO's eastern flank.

This week there has been a series of security incidents in the Baltic region, with ⁠a ‌drone ‌violating Lithuanian airspace, and a fighter ⁠jet shooting down ‌a suspected Ukrainian drone over Estonia.

Earlier this year, Britain deployed military ⁠vessels to prevent attacks on ⁠cables and pipelines by Russian submarines that ⁠spent more than a month in and around UK waters.