Russia claims it has intercepted two British fighter jets over the Black Sea.
The country's defence ministry said today it scrambled the pair of RAF warplanes as they approached its border in the stretch of ocean.
It comes after the UK and its allies were urged to prepare for a potential implosion of Russia following the Wagner Group's failed coup.
"As the Russian fighter jets approached, the foreign warplanes turned around and distanced themselves from the Russian border," the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said the planes involved were two British Typhoon jets accompanied by an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft.
"The Russian planes safely returned to their airfield. There was no violation of the Russian border," said the ministry.
Such incidents involving Russian and Western aircraft have surged over the Black Sea and Baltic Sea amid President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Last month, Moscow said it had intercepted four US strategic bombers in the Baltic in two separate incidents a matter of days apart.
It said it had also intercepted aircraft from France, Germany and Poland.
While, conversely, on June 14 RAF Typhoons intercepted three Russian Air Force Jets flying close to NATO airspace.
Typhoons from 140 EAW in Estonia were scrambled to intercept the Russian jets - a Russian Air Force IL-20 COOT A and two Su-27 FLANKER B - that failed to comply with international norms by not liaising with relevant Flight Information Regions (FIRs), the Royal Air Force said.
The RAF tweeted: "RAF Typhoons from 140 EAW in Estonia were scrambled this afternoon to intercept a Russian Air Force IL-20 COOT A and 2x Su-27 FLANKER B flying close to @NATO airspace.
"The Russian aircraft failed to comply with international norms by not liaising with relevant FIRs. #WeAreNATO."
It came as Typhoons currently deployed to Estonia and Cyprus joined around 250 aircraft from 25 nations to take part in NATO's largest air exercise of the year, Exercise Air Defender in Germany.
The main aim of the exercise - which took place the day before the interception - was to test NATO's collective aerial response to an attack on a member state.
Liz Truss has urged the UK and its allies to prepare for a potential implosion of Russia following the Wagner Group's failed coup.
The Tory former prime minister acknowledged that Putin has been "significantly weakened" after Yevgeny Prigozhin's mercenary group halted a march on Moscow to avoid "shedding Russian blood" on Saturday.
