Russia said on Monday that it had scrambled an Su-27 fighter jet to intercept a German naval plane over the Baltic Sea after it said the plane approached its territory.
The defence ministry said that the German aircraft - a P-3 Orion maritime patrol plane - did not cross Russia's borders and that it turned back after the confrontation.
"After the foreign military aircraft turned away from the state border of the Russian Federation, the Russian fighter returned to its home airfield," the ministry said.