Putin’s spy planes are flying over Britain – and the MoD’s so cool with it they’re even hosting Russian pilots in Oxfordshire
The airmen and planes are being hosted as part of a treaty that was drawn up in the aftermath of the Cold War
VLADIMIR Putin's spy planes are flying strategic reconnaissance missions over the UK and the Ministry of Defence is absolutely fine with it.
In fact they're so relaxed that they are even putting up Russian pilots in Oxfordshire as part of the "Open Skies" treaty.
The agreement was originally conceived during Cold War as an attempt to let the US and USSR observe one another's preparations for nuclear war in an attempt to de-escalate the threat from both sides.
Although the idea was originally dismissed, it carried on being suggested till 2002 when it was signed by a raft of nations including Britain, The USA, Russia and a host of NATO and former Soviet countries.
The treaty allows any signatory to request pictures form the latest overflight of any other country as a deterrent to member states setting up new missile stations or nuclear enrichment plants.
The US government describes Open Skies as a way of establishing " a regime of unarmed aerial observation flights over the entire territory of its participants.
"The Treaty is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants, regardless of size, a direct role in gathering information about areas of concern to them.”
The MoD has said in the past of the programme: " When Open Skies flights occur over the UK, we always have RAF representatives onboard – and the UK always gets to see all the photos which were taken on the flight.
"So why do we do it? The opportunity to observe each others’ territories is invaluable for transparency and the development of international trust between nations. In addition, aside from observing their work in the sky, we also get to interact professionally and to learn more about the culture of the nation in question; in this instance interacting with our Russian counterparts."
Russian planes and pilots are currently being housed at RAF Brize Norton.
They tend to use unarmed Antonov AN-30B aircraft which Russian websites say are due for replacement.
Meanwhile a US "spy plane" has made an emergency landing in eastern Russia.
The surveillance Boeing OC-135B aircraft was flying a mission over Siberia as allowed under the Treaty on Open Skies when it reported a problem with its landing gear.
The unarmed plane made an emergency landing at Khabarovsk airport, but a military source in Russia has questioned whether the technical glitch was genuine.
The treaty allows signatories to overfly the skies of each other gathering information about military forces and activities of concern to them.
The American military aircraft had left after a stopover in Ulan-Ude, in the Republic of Buryatia, and was due to fly north to Yakutsk, capital of Siberia's diamond-rich Sakha Republic.
Instead, after takeoff the crew noticed the problem and the Boeing went east and made a landing 1,660 miles away in Khabarovsk.
An airport official confirmed Wednesday's emergency landing in the city, close to the Chinese border.
'A foreign aircraft made a forced landing in Khabarovsk. All emergency ground services have arrived on site. The flight landed safely at 3 P.M. local time,' said a statement.
Earlier, the Russian Defence Ministry's Nuclear Risk Reduction Centre had announce the US Boeing OC-135B aircraft's observation flight over Russian territory between July 25 and 30.
An army source suggested the malfunctioning was 'not coincidental', and perhaps related to recent military exercises in the area.
"They were due to go direct from Ulan-Ude north-northeast to Yakutsk," said the unnamed source, as reported by .
"Just imagine the kind of loop they needed to make to request the landing at approximately the same distance, but to the east?"
The Boeing OC-135B aircraft seats up to 35 people as it monitors foreign territory on behalf of the US government.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368