British jets scrambled to investigate Russian planes

British jets were scrambled earlier today to investigate suspected Russian fighter plans flying close to UK airspace.

“Typhoon fighters … were scrambled today as a precautionary measure against a potential incursion into UK area of interest by one or more unidentified aircraft,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) told Reuters.

“At no time was there a threat to UK airspace ..,” he added.

Russian warplanes flying near the UK are routinely monitored by the MoD, including a recent interception of jets by Royal Air Force (RAF) fighters flying over the North Sea last month.

The RAF has had to scramble jets more than 80 times over the last decade to intercept Russian aircraft, said minister of state for the armed forces Mark Lancaster said at a conference in July.

Tensions between the UK and Russia have been rising in recent years, and worsened after two Russian men were apprehended in Salisbury on suspicion of poisoning former spy Sergei Skripal in March.