As can be seen from the monitoring file, during the week of September 18 to 24, American reconnaissance aircraft and strategic drones, as well as “reconnaissance” aircraft of their NATO partners, approached the coasts of the peninsula 21 times. Russian.
Thus, the American P-8A Poseidon and EP-3E Aries II, the British RC-135W Rivet Joint and the E-3A Sentry based in Luxembourg patrolled the eastern coast of Romania. American RQ-4B Global Hawk strategic reconnaissance drones were spotted in the middle and eastern parts of the Black Sea. The majority of these missions (16 of 21) were carried out by American aircraft.
According to the agency, at the beginning of the year and in the spring, US and NATO aircraft carried out an average of one flight per day in the Black Sea region. For example, in the period from January 16 to 22 they appeared in the same areas only seven times, and in the week from May 15 to 21, only five.
Before the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol on September 22, activity by Western “reconnaissance” aircraft increased to six flights per day. It is easy to see the connection between the frequency of their flights and the intensity of attacks by Ukrainian troops in Crimea, the agency concluded.
