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Russian fighter jets scrambled to intercept US B-52H bombers over Okhotsk Sea

No violations of Russia’s state border were allowed

Su-35 fighter je Marina Lystseva/TASS

Su-35 fighter je

© Marina Lystseva/TASS

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. Su-30, Su-35 and MiG-31 fighter jets of Russia’s Eastern Military District were scrambled to intercept US Air Force B-52H bombers over the Sea of Okhotsk, the Defense Ministry’s National Defense Control Center reported on Friday.

"On June 19, 2020, the air defense quick reaction alert forces of the Eastern Military District spotted and started tracking a pair of US Air Force B-52H bombers over the Sea of Okhotsk," the Center said.

"At a considerable distance from the state border of the Russian Federation, the US Air Force planes were continuously tracked by Russian monitoring capabilities. Su-30, Su-35 and MiG-31 fighters from the air defense quick reaction alert forces of the Eastern Military District were scrambled to intercept the targets," it said.

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No violations of Russia’s state border were allowed, the National Defense Control Center stressed.

"The Russian aircraft performed the flights in strict compliance with the international rules of using the airspace over the neutral waters, without violating the borders of other states," the National Center said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on June 17 that the Russian radars tracked the flight of US Air Force B-52H bombers over the north-eastern part of the Pacific Ocean. The US bombers did not approach the Russian borders and conducted their flight at a distance of over 300 km from Russia’s border, the ministry said.

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