Russia denies military aircraft nearly collided with civilian plane.

Russia has rejected the Swedish Defense Minister's claim that its military aircraft nearly collided with a passenger plane.

Today (December 14), the Russian Ministry of Defense denied reports from the Swedish military that a Russian military aircraft had nearly collided with a civilian aircraft in southern Swedish airspace.

Illustrative image

Russia did not deny the presence of its military aircraft in the area on December 12, but insisted it maintained a safe distance of more than 70 km from the passenger plane.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said there was no possibility of a collision on December 12 between a civilian aircraft and a Russian military aircraft flying in international airspace over the Baltic Sea. The Swedish military said yesterday that a near-collision occurred in the southern part of the country between a Russian military aircraft and a passenger plane that took off from Copenhagen, Denmark.

According to sources, the Russian military aircraft switched off its transponder to avoid commercial radar. A spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed this.

Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist called the conduct of flights without transponders irresponsible. Meanwhile, according to Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Konashenkov, NATO military aircraft flying in the area near the Russian border also frequently switch off these systems.

According to VOV