Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday that fighter jets from other countries accompanied its strategic bombers during parts of a mission over seas between Russia and Alaska.
The Tu-95MS bombers flew over neutral waters of the Bering and Chukchi seas on what the ministry described as a scheduled flight. They spent more than 13 hours in the air and refueled during the mission, it said. That duration was the bombers’ total time airborne, not a measure of how long they flew over the two seas.
Russian Su-35S fighters escorted the bombers, the ministry said. It reported that foreign fighter jets accompanied the aircraft along portions of the route.
The ministry said its long-range crews regularly fly over neutral waters in the Arctic, North Atlantic and Pacific, as well as the Baltic and Black seas. It also said flights by Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft comply with international rules governing airspace.
