MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/. Russia’s Tu-95 ‘Bear’ strategic bombers performed routine flights over the Arctic Ocean, the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk and were escorted by US F-22 fighter jets at some stages, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Friday.

Earlier, the Washington Free Beacon reported citing Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for the Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), that the F-22 jets intercepted two Russian Tu-95 ‘Bear’ long-range bombers on Saturday.

"Tu-95 MS strategic long-range bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces performed scheduled flights over the neutral waters of the Arctic Ocean, the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. At some stages of the route, the aircraft of Russia’s Aerospace Forces were escorted by two F-22 fighter jets of the US Air Force," the ministry said in a statement obtained by TASS.

The ministry noted that pilots of long-range and marine aviation regularly conduct flights over the neutral waters of the Arctic, the Black Sea, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. All flights are carried out in strict compliance with international rules, without violating the borders of other countries, it stressed.