Russia taunts NATO by flying a fighter jet into Estonia as Russian TV pundits ridicule Boris
Putin taunts NATO by flying a fighter jet into Estonia as Russian TV pundits ridicule Boris as ‘under the heel of his young wife’ and ‘ the most disliked, disrespected and ridiculed character in Britain’ ahead of his visit to Ukraine
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A Russian warplane has breached the airspace of Estonia – where hundreds of British troops are based – in a suspected move to test NATO defences.
Estonian authorities yesterday handed a protest note to Russian diplomats in Tallinn after a Russian Su-27 fighter jet violated the NATO state’s airspace near the island of Vaindloo in the Gulf of Finland over the weekend.
The warplane did not post a flight plan and its transponder was switched off as encroached on Estonian territory – a move described by Tallinn ‘a very unfortunate and serious incident’.
It comes as Moscow’s pro-Kremlin media ruthlessly mocked Boris Johnson over the Partygate scandal, accusing him of exploiting the crisis in Ukraine – where he is due to visit today – to distract from domestic chaos.
One TV channel branded him ‘the most disliked, disrespected and ridiculed character in Britain’ who was ‘completely under the control and heel of his young wife’ Carrie, and declared that the Partygate report would have ended up in the ‘Victorian sewers’ of the capital if it were up to the PM.
Estonian authorities yesterday handed a protest note to Russian diplomats in Tallinn after a Russian Su-27 fighter jet violated the NATO state’s airspace near the island of Vaindloo in the Gulf of Finland over the weekend
Estonian authorities yesterday released a statement on the incursion into its airspace by the Russian Su-27 fighter.
‘The jet was in Estonian airspace for less than a minute, but it was flying with the transponder in the off mode and remained out of contact with Estonian air traffic control at the time of violating the Estonian border,’ said the NATO member state.
Moscow has since denied the incident took place, despite having a track record of breaching Estonian airspace.
‘No flights by Russian Su-27 fighter jets were carried out above the Baltic Sea on January 29. The Russian Aerospace Forces perform all their flights in strict compliance with the international rules of airspace use, above neutral waters, without violating other states’ borders,’ the Moscow defence ministry said.
Britain currently has around 900 soldiers in Estonia, a number expected to double in the coming weeks as NATO deploys foreign troops to eastern Europe, but the small Baltic state is seen as vulnerable to a Russian attack in the event of armed conflict in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian media has ripped into Boris Johnson ahead of his visit to Ukraine today, accusing the Prime Minister of seeking to exploit and worsen the tension over Ukraine to divert attention from his Partygate woes.
State-run Rossiya 1 channel claimed Johnson’s ‘anti-Russian hysteria’ was ‘a way to divert attention from domestic problems’ as he sought to ‘stifle’ the scandal over lockdown-breaking parties.
Several Russian TV channels were mocking Boris Johnson yesterday ahead of his planned trip to Ukraine today. NTV branded him ‘the most disliked, disrespected and ridiculed character in Britain’
‘Only anti-Russian sanctions can distract from Johnson’s protracted Partygate,’ the channel concluded.
In a report from London, Gazprom Media-owned NTV channel said: ‘If it were in the power of Boris Johnson, [Sue Gray’s report] would have disappeared into the bowels of the Victorian sewers of the city of London.
‘But this did not happen. The report was delivered to the prime minister at Number 10 – the very residence where the parties took place.
‘Boris Johnson is today the most disliked, disrespected and ridiculed character in Britain.
‘Even schoolchildren are laughing at him.
The servicemen of the motorized rifle unit of the combined arms army of Russia’s Eastern Military District have completed the deployment of a field camp in Belarus at the Brestsky training ground
New videos show activity at a Russian military camp in its neighbour and ally Belarus, where the West fears Putin has gathered additional forces
‘[Dominic Cummings] says Johnson is completely under the control and heel of his young wife, but at the same time has the ambitions of a Roman emperor’
The channel’s London correspondent Liza Gerson continued: ‘In order to preserve himself, to preserve his political career, Boris Johnson is trying to present himself as a kind of saviour of the whole country.
‘Not just the country but the whole world.
‘He is trying to talk about more global issues, but he is being asked extremely shameful and petty questions.’
Large-scale exercise of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces in Ivanovo Region
Rossiya 1 London correspondent Alexander Khabarov reported that the UK intended to double its military contingent in Estonia ‘and intensify British aviation operations in the Black Sea region, where it has decided to send a guided missile destroyer.
‘Johnson calls these containment measures and pretends not to hear Moscow’s repeated statements that Russia is not going to attack anyone.’
Meanwhile new videos showed activity at a Russian military camp in its neighbour and ally Belarus, where the West fears Putin has gathered additional forces.
Another shows large-scale war games involving Russia’s strategic nuclear missile forces in Ivanovo region.
Putin is now believed to have up to 130,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders.
