NATO fighter risked being downed by approaching Shoigu's plane - Klintsevich
MOSCOW. June 21 (Interfax) - A NATO fighter approaching the aircraft of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is an unprecedented case which may point to elementary unprofessionalism, Frants Klintsevich, first deputy head of the Federation Council Defense and Security Committee, said.
"The situation is entirely unprecedented. Which is why, by employing relevant channels, it is necessary to try and clarify whether the crew of NATO's F-16 fighter jet were fulfilling an order from a top alliance figure by trying to bring it close to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's aircraft, or the pilot simply overdid it," Klintsevich was quoted by his press office as saying.
"Most likely, what we have here is someone going over the top, or - which too is possible - elementary unprofessionalism," Klintsevich said.
"But I can state one thing absolutely certainly: had the fighter continued flying in the same direction, it would have been shot down," the Russian senator said.
NATO's F-16 aircraft tried to approach the Russian defense minister's aircraft but was made to retreat by a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter, a journalist who was aboard the minister's plane reported earlier.
NATO aircraft were trying to escort the minister's airliner en route to Kaliningrad over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea.
Meanwhile, the Rossiya 24 TV channel showed video of an F-16 fighter approaching Shoigu's plane.
The video shot through Shoigu's plane window depicts an F-16 fighter leveling with the Russian aircraft at a distance of several dozens of meters before a Sukhoi Su-27 fills in and waves its wings to demonstrate missiles to the F-16 pilot. The NATO plane moves aside after that.
