The Defense Ministry in Moscow says the Norwegian maritime patrol aircraft was “approaching the state border of the Russian Federation.”
P-8 Poseidon is Norway’s new patrol aircraft replacing the older propeller P-3 Orion that for decades have monitored fisheries in the Barents Sea and Russian submarines on patrol in northern waters.
This is the first time a report is made public about a Russian intercepter MiG-31 being scrambled from an air base on the Kola Peninsula to meet Norway’s new maritime patrol aircraft.
“To identify an air target and prevent violation of the state border of the Russian Federation, a fighter jet was scrambled,” the Ministry writes in a post on its Telegram channel.
The ministry underlines that the Norwegian aircraft did not violate Russia’s air space and the MiG-31 returned to its base.
Russia’s interception of the aircraft comes as Norway declared 15 Russian diplomats “persona non grata,” which Oslo claimed to be “intelligence officers,” due to their engagement in activities that are “not compatible with their diplomatic status.”
“This is yet another extremely unfriendly step that will be followed by retaliatory measures,” the Russian Embassy in Oslo said on Telegram in response to the decision.
