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Russia's strategic bombers Tu-160 fly for 10 hours over Caribbean Sea — defense ministry

Russian aircraft were accompanied by Venezuela's Su-30 and F-16 fighter jets at certain times of the flight

Tu-160 strategic bombers Russian Defence Ministry's Press and Information Department/TASS

Tu-160 strategic bombers

© Russian Defence Ministry's Press and Information Department/TASS

MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. Russian strategic bombers Tu-160 flew over the Caribbean Sea for about ten hours, and were accompanied by Venezuelan fighter jets at certain times, the Russian Defense Ministry's press service said on Wednesday.

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"During the international visit of the Aerospace Defense Forces' delegation to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, pilots of strategic bombers Tu-160 conducted a flight in the airspace over the Caribbean Sea. The flight lasted for about 10 hours," the press service said.

"In certain parts of the route, the flight of Russian bombers was conducted together with Su-30 and F-16 fighter jets of the Venezuelan National Bolivarian Military Aviation. The pilots from the two countries practiced air cooperation when fulfilling air tasks," the defense ministry added.

The press service added that the flight was performed in strict accordance with internaitonal rules of using airspace.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Monday that two Tu-160 strategic bombers, An -124 "Ruslan" strategic airlift jet aircraft and Il-62 long-range jet airliner of the Aerospace Defense Forces arrived to Venezuela.

This is not the first such flight for Russia's Tu-160 bombers. The aircraft earlier visited Venezuela in September 2008 and in October-November 2013.

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