Moscow, Mar 22: Russian Air Force jets scrambled today to intercept an American spy plane flying in the proximity of Russia's border with Georgia in the Caucasus. According to Russian defence ministry spokesman Col Nikolai Deryabin, two Russian jets were ordered to prevent the violation of the country's airspace by the American U-2 spy plane flying at a distance of 20-30 km along the Russian-Georgian border. Deryabin expressed surprise at frequent flights of American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft along the Russian-Georgian border in Georgia's airspace. It was third flight of the American reconnaissance aircraft along the Russian-Georgian border within a month. Two previous spy flights took place on February 27 and March 7, Deryabin was quoted as saying by a news agency.
Bureau Report