The whirring of a low-flying Soviet Union-era war plane signaled Russia’s uninvited arrival to NATO’s biggest military exercise since the end of the Cold War.
US Marines on board USS Mount Whitney off the Norwegian coast had gathered for a group photograph on deck when the Tupolev TU-142 soared overhead.
“It’s a long-range maritime patrol reconnaissance plane,” one fascinated marine said after casting an expert eye on the visitor.
Photo: AFP
Although he had seen plenty of images of the aircraft, this was the first time he had seen it live, so to speak.
Russia has already made clear its displeasure at NATO’s Trident Juncture exercises, the largest by the alliance since the end of the Cold War. It warned that the two-week exercise, which it sees as an anti-Russian show of force, would not go unanswered.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that two TU-142s carried out a “planned flight” of more than 12 hours.
“All flights by the Russian fleet’s maritime planes are carried out strictly in accordance with international airspace regulations,” the ministry said on Saturday, state news agency RIA Novosti said.
Several states, including Sweden, Turkey and Baltic nations, have complained about Russian airspace violations over the past few years.
Moscow last week also announced plans to test missiles in the region.
According to Avinor, the public operator of most civil airports in Norway, Russia sent a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) about missile tests from Thursday to Saturday in the Norwegian Sea.
Any missile testing “will not change the plan of our exercise,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.
“We have not seen anything resembling a missile test, or even ships or aircraft in the area that would be relevant to documenting or monitoring missile testing,” said Robert Aguilar, captain of the USS Mount Whitney.
The Tupolev’s passage appeared to be part of Russia’s response.
However, British Royal Marine Colonel Garth Manger, in charge of operational duties aboard the US ship, took it in his stride.
“They’re watching us and we’re watching them,” he said.
“We are at sea, everyone’s got the right to be here. It’s international waters, it’s international airspace,” said British Admiral Guy Robinson, second-in-command of the maritime task force. “So clearly we monitor closely, but everything we see in this exercise is that they’ve been safe and professional.”
US Brigadier General Jason Bohm was equally phlegmatic.
“The largest issue we have had on this exercise has been the weather,” he said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese