US P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft spotted near Russia's Murmansk

A US P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft was recently recorded flying close to Murmansk, according to information from the flight-tracking platform Flightradar24.

The reconnaissance plane took off from Keflavik International Airport in Iceland and was subsequently detected in international airspace over the Barents Sea, near the port city of Murmansk. Later, the aircraft disappeared from radar and was no longer observed in the area.

The P-8A Poseidon, which is built on the Boeing 737 airframe, is used for reconnaissance missions, including tracking naval vessels and submarines.

Earlier incidents involving Western surveillance aircraft were also noted. In early September 2025, a US military intelligence and targeting aircraft, the Bombardier Challenger 650 Artemis, conducted patrol flights over the Black Sea.

Flightradar24 data showed that the aircraft departed from Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport in Romania, flew over the Black Sea, and kept its destination hidden. After reaching the Turkish coast, it turned back and returned toward its point of departure.

In December, a Royal Air Force Boeing RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft also carried out a flight over the Black Sea. It took off from the UK base at Waddington, travelled across the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, and then entered Black Sea airspace. After flying over the sea, the aircraft turned around near the coast of Sochi and retraced the same route back.

By Tamilla Hasanova