Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the air force performed a scheduled flight of two nuclear-capable Tu-95ms bombers over neutral waters near Alaska, with the U.S. military saying the warplanes were not seen as a threat.
The Su-95ms were escorted by a Su-35s and a Su-30sm fighter jet of the Russian aerospace forces during the 15-hour flight, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Video shared by the military showed the aircraft taking off at night, refueling in mid-air during the day and landing at an undisclosed airfield during the night.
“Long-range aviation pilots regularly fly over the neutral waters of the Arctic, the North Atlantic, the Black and Baltic seas, as well as the Pacific Ocean,” the Russian military said.
The U.S. military said it detected and tracked the four Russian warplanes in international airspace on Tuesday. The aircraft did not enter American or Canadian airspace, it added.
“This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ [Air Defense Identification Zone] occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat,” North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement.
The latest flight stands out from previous Russian warplane maneuvers near Alaska, which the U.S. military periodically criticizes as unsafe.
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