Why does the US conduct reconnaissance flights over Russian borders?

US RQ-4A Global Hawk strategic UAV. Photo: AP

The EP-3 Aries spy plane and the RQ-4A Global Hawk strategic UAV conducted reconnaissance flights near the Russian border, according to data from CivMilAir, which tracks the movements of military aircraft.

In another development, a reconnaissance drone with tail number 10-2043 took off from an airbase on the island of Sicily and also patrolled along the coasts of Crimea and Kuban.

Since the beginning of the year, US military aircraft have been spotted several times near the Russian border. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry called on the US to stop such flights, but the Pentagon responded by refusing to comply with this request.

In an interview with Sputnik, expert of the Center for Military and Political Journalism Boris Rozhin said that US aerial reconnaissance activities near Russia's borders have been active since 2015. They include flights of both manned reconnaissance vehicles and various types of UAVs such as the Global Hawk flying near the Crimean border and along the front line in Donbass.

During these flights, they monitored the Russian air defense system over the territory of Crimea. "Since the Pentagon's strategic direction identifies Russia as one of the main adversaries, additional funds for such reconnaissance flights will be allocated every year. Therefore, the activity of US intelligence agencies near Russia's borders will only increase," - Boris Rozhin argued.