MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. Two Russian Tu-95MS missile-carrying bombers performed planned flights along the western coast of Alaska and the northern coast of the Aleutian Islands and were shadowed by US Air Force F-22 fighters, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.
"Two strategic Tu-95MS missile-carrying bombers of the Aerospace Force performed planned flights in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Chukotsk, Bering and Okhotsk Seas, and also along the western coast of Alaska and the northern coast of the Aleutian Islands," the ministry said in a statement.
The Russian strategic bombers "were shadowed by F-22 fighters of the US Air Force at some sections of their flight," the ministry said.
According to the ministry, the flight lasted about 11 hours.
On Tuesday, four Tu-95MS bombers also performed an observation flight along the western coast of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The Russian bombers were also shadowed by US Air Force F-22 fighter jets at some sections of their flight. The Russian strategic missile-carrying bombers spent more than 12 hours in the air.
"Pilots of long-range aviation regularly perform flights over the neutral waters of the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Black Sea and the Pacific Ocean. All the flights are performed in strict compliance with the international rules of using the airspace, without violating the borders of other states," Russia’s Defense Ministry stressed.