MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Two Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic missile-carrying bombers have performed a scheduled 10-hour flight over the neutral waters of the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea escorted by Sukhoi Su-35S fighters and an A-50 long-range radar surveillance plane, the Defense Ministry of Russia reported on Wednesday.
"Two Tu-95MS strategic missile-carrying bombers of the Aerospace Force performed a planned flight over the neutral waters of the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. During their flight, the long-range aircraft were escorted by the crews of Su-35S fighter jets and an A-50 long-range radar surveillance plane of Russia’s Aerospace Force. The flight lasted more than 10 hours," the statement says.
"At some stages of the flight route, the crews of Tu-95MS aircraft were shadowed by a pair of F-15 and F-16 fighters (the Air Force of South Korea) and F-2 planes (the Air Force of Japan)," according to the statement.
Russia’s long-range aircraft pilots regularly perform flights in strict compliance with the International Rules of Using the Airspace without violating the borders of other states, the Defense Ministry stressed.