Russia claims fighter jet intercepted British spy plane after “crossing Putin’s borders near hypersonic missile bases”.

RUSSIA has claimed to have “intercepted” a British spy plane as it reportedly crossed Putin’s borders near hypersonic missile bases.

The RAF plane is said to have been chased away after Moscow scrambled a MiG-31BM fighter to force it out of the Arctic.

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They said the British RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft “illegally crossed the Russian state border” in the northern territory.

The Russian Defense Ministry claims the British plane was “intercepted” over the Barents Sea near the main base of the Navy’s Northern Fleet.

They said it flew into its airspace near the remote Svyatoy Nos cape in the Murmansk region before being attacked by a fighter jet.

The region’s coast is home to the headquarters of Russia’s Northern Fleet and several secret military bases and installations.

It also includes test sites for Vladimir Putin’s fearsome hypersonic weapons.

A map showed the alleged route of the RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft to the Arctic from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.

State media interrupted newscasts to show the alleged British incursion on TV channels, while calling the alleged intrusion a “radio-electronic warplane”.

Footage of the moment the British spy plane is said to have crossed the border was not immediately shared by the nation.

Instead, a video of an apparently unrelated MiG-31BM and Su-34 drill from the Perm region was highlighted.

Broadcaster Rossiya 1 announced: “Now an urgent report from the Ministry of Defence.

“A British RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft has violated Russia’s state border over the Barents Sea.

“Air defense forces have spotted an unknown air target.

“A MiG-31BM fighter was sent to intercept him. Its crew drove the intruder out of our airspace in the Cape Svyatoy Nos area.”

Pro-Putin politicians were quick to urge the Kremlin to hit back with a “hard” response for getting too close to its top-secret bases.

MP Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the international committee of Russia’s lower house and leader of the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), said: “A reconnaissance plane has crossed the Russian state border near Cape Svyatoy No.

“It seems those issuing such absurd and provocative orders have forgotten how a British destroyer entered Russian territorial waters only to be stopped by our border guards.

“The inviolability of Russia’s borders is a fundamental principle that should not be put to the test.

“I believe that intruders will be dealt with appropriately harshly.”

Russian reports said it was rare for NATO planes to “break through” Russian airspace.

Moscow has previously accused Britain of infringing on its territory when this was denied by the UK MoD.

The Russians initially did not provide any concrete evidence of a border breach from the air.

In February, just days before the invasion of Ukraine, RAF jets similarly flew to intercept four of Putin’s nuclear bombers off the Scottish coast.