Russian Media: US Reconnaissance Aircraft Patrolled Along Russian Border for Five and a Half Hours

Xinhua News Agency, Moscow, November 1 - According to a report by RIA Novosti on the 1st, flight data shows that a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft conducted a patrol along the Russian border for five and a half hours that day.

The report stated that the Bombardier "Artemis II" reconnaissance aircraft took off from the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base in southeastern Romania at around 9:47 Moscow time, flying in a large arc towards the Kaliningrad region of Russia. After circling the region, the aircraft flew over the border between the Baltic states and Russia, made a brief maneuver, and then returned along its original route near Kaliningrad, circling the region's border again before turning back to the Romanian base. Its maneuvering flight near the Russian border lasted from 11:50 to 17:20 Moscow time.

The report also mentioned that this aircraft is converted from a business jet and is often used for radar reconnaissance flights around the Kaliningrad region and over the Black Sea along the Crimean Peninsula and southern Russia.

According to Russian media reports, NATO's activities near Russia's western border have been unprecedentedly active in recent years. The Russian side has repeatedly expressed concerns about NATO's military buildup in Europe. The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that Russia is still willing to engage in dialogue with NATO on an equal basis, but the West should abandon its policy of militarizing the European continent.