The US military has conducted surveillance missions over the Russian airspace, capturing images of the country’s military equipment.
A US observation plane has been flying over Russian skies during the past several days, Stars and Stripes reported on Wednesday.
The US says the mission was done under the Open Skies Treaty that allows a limited number of observation flights. Russia, the United States and a number of other countries have signed the treaty.
“Most of the world has no idea this treaty even exists,” Navy Commander Chris Nelson, who is overseeing the mission this week, said.
“Whenever I mention that Russians fly aircraft over the US taking pictures, it blows people’s minds,” he added.
The surveillance mission comes amid escalating tensions between Washington and Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.
President Barack Obama accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of supporting pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin, however, denies the accusation.
The Obama administration and the European Union have so far imposed sanctions on Moscow over the issue.
During a speech at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia last week, Obama slammed Russia as a “threat to the world” and said his country was leading the world in opposing “Russia’s aggression” against Ukraine.
Obama said the US was “the world’s only super power” that has unique responsibilities.
On Tuesday, Putin said Washington wants to subdue Moscow, but will never succeed.
“They do not want to humiliate us, they want to subdue us, solve their problems at our expense,” Putin said. “No one in history ever managed to achieve this with Russia, and no one ever will.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham called on Obama to “impose a far greater cost” on Putin by providing Ukrainian forces with weapons.
“Providing Ukrainians with the ability to defend themselves would impose a far greater cost on Putin than he has paid thus far,” they said.
