NATO tried to explain why its fighter intended to approach the Russian defense minister's aircraft over the Baltic Sea. They claim that it did it to identify it. They say that NATO didn't know who was flying from Kaliningrad. The military bloc, pretending to be confronting and counteracting Russia, demonstrates a rather unusual lack of awareness. Or is Brussels just being economical with the truth, hiding a failed attempt to flex its muscles?
- Konstantin Sivkov, the First-Vice President of the Academy of Geopolitical Issues, is now live with us. Hello, Konstantin Valentinovich. Is it really possible that Brussels might be unaware of whose aircraft was en route from Russia to Russia escorted by combat aircraft over the Baltic Sea?
Konstantin Sivkov, First Vice-President of the Academy of Geopolitical Issues: I have to correct you. I'm the Deputy President of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences.
- We stand corrected.
- Not the Academy of Geopolitical Issues. Any flight of an aircraft over international waters, whether it be a military or a civilian flight, is reported to all of the services, providing its flight plan, in advance. That's why every military and civilian service was aware of which aircraft it was and what it was escorted by for sure. So, the talks that they had to identify something is just an attempt to hide a desire to make a provocation. That's it.
- Tell us, what do you think of Brussels's explanation that the aircraft tried to approach to identify it? What does it mean? Does it mean that the NATO pilot wanted to see who was aboard the passenger aircraft with his own eyes?
- Yes, something like this. It's like our aircraft approaching NATO reconnaissance aircraft flying along our country's borders to find out what radio and electronic equipment is installed there, take photos of the aircraft, and do other activities connected with intelligence gathering. I think that the same thing took place in this case. The defense minister's aircraft was in the sky and they were well aware of that. They wanted to see if there's some new radio and electronic equipment or something like that. It's nothing more than a simple intelligence operation.
- Konstantin Valentinovich, what should the fighters escorting the plane do in such cases? And what did the Russian pilots do in this case and how did they do it?
- They acted very tactfully. In such cases, escort aircraft take measures to drive an enemy's fighter, excuse me, a "partner's" fighter, a foreign fighter, away. They do it as follows. The fighter simply drives a foreign fighter away from the aircraft being aircraft. It also takes steps to make it difficult for a hostile fighter, excuse me, a foreign fighter, to continue its flight path and make it turn back. This is how they do it. There are no strict instructions on how to do it. Every pilot makes decisions based on the situation. But it can't be done otherwise because there are different circumstances in every particular case. It can be tricky to manage. The fact that pilots are tasked with doing this is set forth in the relevant documents, of course. And NATO pilots know it well.
- Today, a video of how it was done was published. As an expert, how would you assess the Russian pilots' actions?
- I should say that I'm still a Navy officer and not an Air Force one. I'm not a pilot. But what I saw was done brilliantly. Exemplary.
- Thank you very much. That was Konstantin Sivkov, a military analyst, live with us.
