This is the moment President Vladimir Putin’s doomsday jet was intercepted by RAF fighters on a mission over the Baltic Sea.
British typhoons shadowed the nuclear command and control aircraft as it flew in and out of the Russian city of Kaliningrad – eerily close to near NATO’S borders.
The modified Tupolev 214 was built for Vladimir Putin to issue nuclear orders in the event of a third World War. British fighter bombers scrambled from Estonia where they based as part of a NATO mission.
They escorted the doomsday jet and two Su-30 fighters through international airspace as it flew in and out of the Russian province. Nato said it had noticed a spike in VIP flights to and from Kaliningrad, which borders the alliance members of Poland and Lithuania.
It is not known who was on board, though a source said Russians only use the plane for “people of importance”.
They said: “It is possible it could have had Putin on board or one of his top lieutenants.”
The doomsday flight came as NATO chiefs prepare to travel to Vilnius, Lithuania, for a summit next week. Days ago, Russia also claimed to have foiled a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow that prompted authorities to briefly close one of the city’s international airports.
The kamikaze drone attack, believed to have been unleashed by Ukraine, targeted Kubinka military air base, some 48 miles southwest of the Kremlin. This morning, a Russian ammo depot exploded into a massive fireball after Ukraine struck the location with two US-made missiles.
The late-night attack left one person dead and 36 wounded, according to Russian media. Kyiv’s strategic communication office said: “As a result of precision firing by defence forces units, another formation of Russian terrorists in the temporarily occupied Makiivka ceased to exist.”
Russia is being carefully watched following a failed coup attempt brought against Putin by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. Putin’s former lapdog staged an armed insurrection on June 23 with the stated aim to oust Russia’s military leaders as he turned on the top brass in Moscow.
However, the steaming rebellion was blown out after Prigozhin struck a bitter deal with Vladimir Putin putting an end to an astonishing 36-hours that saw Wagner forces reach within 125 miles of Moscow. Prigozhin added that Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko had “held out his hand” to him after the rebellion.
Source: the-sun.com