ENEMY ABOVE
Moment Russian fighter jets ‘intercept enemy aircraft’ in Putin’s chilling war games over the Pacific
THIS is the chilling moment Russian fighter jets intercepted a mock enemy aircraft.
It comes as war-hungry Vladimir Putin ramps up military drills in the Pacific, having closed off Russia's airspace off its eastern coast.
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Western defence attaches in Moscow were called in by the Russian defence ministry to be told about the surprise war games.
Part of the drills is expected to involve testing the readiness of Putin’s forces to retaliate against a Western nuclear strike.
Russians are being told daily by the Kremlin’s propaganda machine that its territory is under threat - despite no evidence that this is so and Putin being the aggressor in the war in Ukraine.
New footage from the drills showed a pair of MiG-31BM fighters over the Pacific intercepting an imitation enemy plane.
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The role of an air intruder was played by an Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft, Russia's defence ministry said.
It said: "After completing the mission, the fighter crews practiced elements of aerial combat with simulated enemy fighters carrying out tasks to cover ‘enemy’ bombers."
In another phase of the drills, Putin ordered his fleet to test a nuclear missile launch in a surprise revenge move - on the one-year anniversary of the sinking of his flagship.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the operations are part of regular training to "maintain the necessary level of readiness of the Armed Forces."
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The unexpected drills were announced on Friday by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The Pacific Fleet’s strategic firepower has been seen since Soviet times as Moscow’s main weapon in retaliatory strikes.
This move appears to be a deliberate show of strength to the West amid Putin’s war against Ukraine which has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
Exercises based on naval base Vladivostok were expected to involve the firing of missiles and testing the readiness of nuclear-capable strategic bombers as well as the fleet’s submarines.
The war games also had more limited objectives such as repelling supposed enemy attacks on Sakhalin island and the Kuril chain north of Japan.
Japan asserts territorial rights to the Kuril Islands which were grabbed by Stalin in World War Two.
Russia last year suspended peace talks with Japan to protest Tokyo’s sanctions against Moscow over its action in Ukraine.
General Valery Gerasimov - the Kremlin’s most senior soldier - said Russia's naval forces would be put on high alert during the drills and deployed to training areas, where they will conduct combat exercises.
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“The main goal of this check is to build up the ability of the armed forces to solve the tasks of repelling the aggression of a potential enemy from oceanic and sea areas,” said Shoigu - a close Putin ally - on state TV.
“During the event, the Pacific Fleet will have to repel massive missile and air strikes, conduct exercises to search for and destroy submarines, perform torpedo and artillery firing and missile launches.”
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