Photos show dramatic near miss of Russian and US jets in 'dangerous' interception over Baltic Sea

Dramatic photos show just how close US and Russian jets came to collision over the Baltic Sea earlier this week. 

The images released by U.S. European Command on Friday captures the heart stopping moment a Russian jet came within a few feet of a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance jet in a maneuver that has been criticized as unsafe.

The photographs show the Russian SU-27 coming so close to the wing of the U.S. RC-135U that the Russian pilot can be seen in the cockpit. 

Intercepts are not uncommon over the Baltic, where Nato maintains an air policing mission and frequently sends jets to identify Russian military aircraft flying without transponders. 

However, EUCOM said the June 19 incident was determined to be unsafe  "due to the high rate of closure speed and poor control of the aircraft during the intercept."

A US official told Fox news that the Russian jet was “provocative” in its flight maneuvers and flying “erratically.”

Russia denied that its pilot was responsible for the near miss and said the US aircraft performed a “provocative U-turn” towards the Russian jet. 

The RC-135U is large aircraft - slightly longer than a Boeing 737 - and has none of the manoeuvrability of the much smaller Su-27 fighter jet. 

The incident kicked off a series of close encounters between Nato and Russian aircraft this week. 

Two days later, Sweden summoned Russia's ambassador after another SU-27 jet flew close to a Swedish Gulfstream reconnaissance plane over the Baltic. 

And on Wednesday, a Nato military plane approached the plane of Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu above the Baltic Sea. 

A Nato fighter jet tried to approach Mr Shoigu's plane but a Russian escort plane intervened to defend it, Interfax news agency reported, citing journalists accompanying the minister.

The escort plane, a Sukhoi SU-27, demonstrated it was armed by rocking its wings, after which the Nato plane flew off, Interfax reported.

Nato insisted the crew's actions were "routine" to identify the plane while "maintaining a safe distance at all times" and then break away.