NEW YORK, September 7. /TASS/. US F-22 fighter jets were scrambled last weekend to intercept and escort two Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers off the coast of Alaska, The Washington Free Beacon reported.

"Two Alaskan-based NORAD F-22 fighters intercepted and visually identified two Tu-95 ‘Bear' long-range bomber aircraft flying in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, south of the Aleutian Islands," Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for the Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), told the news portal.

"The two Russian Tu-95 bomber aircraft were intercepted and monitored by the F-22s until the bombers left the ADIZ along the Aleutian Island chain heading west," he went on. "At no time did the Russian bombers enter Canadian or United States sovereign airspace."

According to the official, the incident took place early on Saturday, September 1 (local time).