Russian aircraft released missile near British patrol plane over the Black Sea: UK

London, Oct 20

A Russian aircraft released a missile near a British plane patrolling in international airspace over the Black Sea on September 29, UK Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, has said, as per media reports.

Wallace told the Parliament the Britain had suspended patrols following the incident and expressed their concerns to Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, The Guardian reported,

He said an "unarmed RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint" plane was "interacted with" by two Russian SU-27s, one of which "released a missile in the vicinity of the RAF Rivet Joint beyond visual range".

Russia said it was a technical malfunction and Wallace said Britain has now resumed patrols. The patrols now have fighter aircraft escorts, he added, The Guardian reported.

The British Defence Secretary made a statement in the Commons after returning from a visit to see his US counterpart in Washington.

Russia is laying the groundwork to destroy a key Ukrainian dam which would flood Kherson and cover its troops' retreat from the city, a think-tank has concluded, Daily Mail reported.

General Sergei Surovikin, Russia's new supreme commander in Ukraine, has spoken to Russian media in recent days about what he called a "devastating strike" on the Nova Kakhovka dam which he said was being plotted by Kyiv's troops.

Surovikin, who has also been preparing the Russian public for a retreat from the region, said the blast would flood Kherson and cause widespread damage.

This is likely setting up for a 'false-flag attack' that would cover Russia's retreat and prove a distraction from its latest battlefield humiliation, analysts from the Institute for the Study of War have concluded, Daily Mail reported.

Breaching the dam would also be another blow to Ukraine's battered energy grid, with people told to brace for rolling four-hour blackouts from today after a third of the country's power plants were blown up in a little over a week.

Ukraine has already struck the dam several times with long-range rockets because a key roadway runs over it which Russia was using to supply its troops, Daily Mail reported.

--IANS