 Russia fighter jets attacked a British spy plane. A Russian fighter jet nearly shot down a British spy plane last year. The near miss was more dangerous than previously portrayed, particularly given the potential ramifications of a hypothetical Russian strike against a NATO member. As the Washington Post reports referring to a leaked Pentagon paper circulating on social media, a Russian fighter jet came dangerously close to shooting down an unarmed British spy plane over the Black Sea last year. On the 29th of September, the near miss happened when the British surveillance jet flew off the Crimean coast. Ben Wallace, UK Defence Secretary, briefed the House of Commons about the incident in October saying two Russian Su-27 fighter jets had intercepted the RC-135 in international airspace over the Black Sea, flying recklessly with one plane coming within five metres of the British aircraft. According to him, one of the Russian jets released a missile at a distance, but he did not call the occurrence a near missile launch and termed the missile firing as technical malfunction. He talked about it with high-ranking Russian officials from the Ministry of Defence. On the 14th of March, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet damaged a US MQ-9 Reaper reconnaissance and attack drone while trying to intercept it over the Black Sea. The drone was forced down into the sea.