France says Russia threatened to shoot down jets over Black Sea.
Russia directly threatened French planes in the Black Sea recently, French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Thursday.
“A month ago, a Russian air traffic control system threatened to shoot down French aircraft in the Black Sea, even though we were in the internationally free zone in which we patrol,” he told French radio RTL.
"La Russie joue avec les seuils en matière d'agressivité : il y a un mois, en mer Noire, dans une zone internationalement libre, des opérateurs russes ont menacé d'abattre des avions français"@SebLecornu, ministre des Armées, invité de @amandine_begot dans #RTLMatin pic.twitter.com/joCaongZ4Y
— RTL France (@RTLFrance) February 22, 2024
Sébastien Lecornu did not offer specific details about the French flights or aircraft involved in the threatened shoot-down.
However, he said the incident demonstrated Russia is returning to a “particularly aggressive” posture reminiscent of the former Soviet Union’s behaviour during the Cold War.