Russian fighters were scrambled twice to intercept American B-52H bombers, active on the eastern and southern borders. The close encounters between Russian and US planes occurred both above the Baltic and Black seas.
The US strategic bombers were intercepted twice on Monday, Russian Defense Ministry has said, without providing exact numbers of aircraft involved into the encounters.
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“The crews of Russian Su-27 fighter jets … have intercepted US Air Force B-52H strategic bombers, that approached Russian state border from the Black and Baltic seas,” the military said.
The US planes did not violate the border itself and were safely escorted away, the military added, lauding actions of its pilots and adding that all the Russian flights have been conducted “in strict accordance with international rules.”
The strategic US aircraft – as well as spy planes – have been very active in the close vicinity of the Russian border over the past few years. The close encounters between aircraft of two nations are not rare as well, and the US planes regularly get escorted away from it by Russian aircraft.
While such activities have fortunately not yielded any major incidents, Moscow and Washington have repeatedly accused each other of hostile actions – while Russia insists such flights near its borders create unnecessary tensions, US military has repeatedly bemoaned the intercepts, accusing Russian pilots of being somehow “unprofessional.”
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