Russian attempt to shoot down a Wessex
Journalistic nonsense yet again: it would take an exceptionally dull pilot to get hit by a flare! We would regularly check out the opposition during the Cold War, as they would check us: all part of the game. Sometimes one side or the other may get a bit carried away with a bit of a beat up, but for a flare to be potted off at an ASW helicopter would be the stuff of the Line Book. Hardly a diplomatic incident, IMO.