NATO reconnaissance aircraft active over Black Sea, Baltic region

MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. A NATO Bombardier Challenger 650 Artemis II reconnaissance and targeting aircraft has again been recorded circling over the neutral waters of the Black Sea, a source in EU aviation dispatch services told TASS.

The aircraft took off from its base in Constanta, Romania, and is cruising at over 10.5 km altitude outside civilian corridors, making turns near the Romanian-Ukrainian border. It has been spotted over the Black Sea several times since early June.

Over the past few hours, a Netherlands-operated Boeing E-3 Sentry early warning aircraft has also been operating over Latvia, circling the Gulf of Riga and the central part of the country, with the same aircraft spotted over Estonia the previous evening.

The Bombardier Challenger 650 has also been active over the Baltic region, flying through Lithuanian and Polish airspace near the Kaliningrad region and over neutral Baltic waters. It has frequently been joined over the Black Sea by a UK Royal Air Force Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft.