Russia Says US Planes Spy on It on Daily BasisRussia's air defense units detect US reconnaissance planes spying on the country's borders on daily basis, a senior Russian defense official said Wednesday."Our air defense systems can discover US spy planes flying close to the Russian border every day, chiefly in the Far East," where several biggest Russian military bases are located, the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. Nearly 1,000 spy flights were detected and tracked by Russia last year. This year, up to 60 flights were detected in the Far East every week, he said. "In this light, the collision of a US reconnaissance plane with a Chinese fighter plane over the South China Sea Sunday morning did not surprise the Russian defense community," he said. After the collision of a U.S. EP-3 spy plane and a Chinese F-8 fighter, the Chinese plane crashed into sea and the US plane made a forced landing on the Chinese island of Hainan without any application or permission. |
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