A Russian pilot tried to shoot down a British Royal Air Force spy plane over the Black Sea last year and fired two missiles, believing he had permission to hit the plane, the BBC reported, citing three sources in Western defense circles.

On September 29, the RAF aircraft was conducting a surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace when it was engaged by two Russian Su-27 fighter jets.

As the two Russian Su-27s approached the British aircraft, they received a message from the ground station controller: "You have a target". This ambiguous command was taken by one of the Russian pilots as permission to launch missiles.

Upon hearing the command, the Russian pilot fired a missile, which successfully launched but failed to hit the target. Sources said that the two Russian pilots then had a quarrel.

A leak of classified US intelligence last year showed that the US military spoke of what happened in very strong terms.

@liveukraine_media