Russia has claimed that international rules were breached after UK authorities inspected an Aeroflot Airbus A321 passenger liner after it touched down at Heathrow airport on Friday afternoon.
The Russian Embassy in the UK have demanded an explanation from the Foreign Office for the “hostile” search of a Russian plane
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said British authorities did not state the reason for the search, adding that it was another provocation against Russia.
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She called London’s actions “unacceptable, dangerous and irresponsible,” urging the international community to give them a proper evaluation. She added that Russian embassy staff were heading to the airport where the search of the plane took place.
Meanwhile the Metropolitan police have taken to twitter to deny conducting a search of the plane….someone is not telling the truth.
We are aware of a story circulating on social media. Please be advised that Metropolitan Police are not conducting a search of an Airbus inbound from Moscow at Heathrow.
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) March 30, 2018
RT reports: The Russian diplomatic office wants an explanation for the incident with a Russian Aeroflot plane that was searched by British authorities on Friday. During the search, the authorities demanded that the crew leave the aircraft, which is against regulations. So far, London has not provided an explanation for the move.
“The British officials tried to search the aircraft without the crew being present, something categorically prohibited by the rules in force,” the embassy said in a statement. It took an intervention from the diplomats for the captain to be able to stay on board.
“After an Embassy officer arrived at the airport long negotiations were conducted that allowed to ensure the right of the captain to take part in the search,” the statement reads.
Attempts by Russian diplomats to elicit a response from British authorities concerning the cause for the search have proven unsuccessful, the embassy said, noting that it has been unable to reach the Foreign Office for comment so far.
Lacking any feedback from UK officials, the embassy has, by default, concluded that the incident was “in one way or another connected with the hostile policy that the UK government is conducting with regard to Russia.”
