Chilling moment Russian warplane shadows US Navy jet near Ukraine

A Russian Su-35S (Image: East2West)

New video footage shows the chilling moment a Russian jet shadows a US Navy spy plane over the Black Sea. The footage shows the Russian Su-35S flying alongside the American P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft, as it carries out surveillance operations off the Crimean coast.

Russia accused the US of actively gathering intelligence for Ukraine's military. The pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Voyenny Osvedomitel wrote: “The captured payload - traced for the first time - on the American submarine-hunter is of particular interest. The footage shows, beneath the Poseidon’s fuselage, a newly-fitted AN/APS-154 Advanced Airborne Sensor radar. There is not much publicly available information about it, but it is known to be a versatile system designed for detecting submarines, surface vessels, and for coastal reconnaissance.

“The war in Ukraine has become an excellent testing ground—both for us and for our ‘respected partners’—to trial the latest types of weaponry under real combat conditions.”

The Su-35S costs around £60 million and is the most advanced 4.5-generation multirole fighter jet in Russia's airforce. Although it shadowed the £208 million US spy plane, the Russian pilot chose not to directly interfere with it.

The US plane was flying over international waters in the Black Sea at the time of the incident.

It comes as reports emerge that Russia or its proxies are using surveillance drones in eastern Germany to track the transportation of Western military equipment.

US and Western officials told the New York Times that the intelligence gathering operation could be used by the Kremlin to boost its sabotage campaign across Europe and assist its troops in Ukraine.

Russia has been accused of commissioning sabotage acts that have led to fires at warehouses in Britain, an attack against a dam in Norway and attempts to cut cables under the Baltic Sea.

Kremlin sponsored sabotage acts peaked last year and have fallen off significantly in 2025.

That is at least partly the result of heightened security in Europe, and efforts by US and European intelligence services to prevent attacks.

The drop also likely reflects a surge in diplomatic activity to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, officials said.