MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/. The Russian Navy’s long-range antisubmarine Tu-142 aircraft has conducted a surveillance flight over the Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters on Wednesday.
"On September 16, 2020, a long-range antisubmarine Tu-142 aircraft of the Russian Naval Air Force conducted a scheduled flight in international airspace over the Black Sea," the defense ministry said adding that "Su-30SM fighter jets of the Black Sea Fleet accompanied the Tu-142 aircraft along its route."
The ministry pointed out that the flight, which had taken place in strict compliance with international airspace rules, lasted about five hours.
Earlier in the day, two Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3 long-range bombers had patrolled neutral waters of the Black Sea from the air.
On Tuesday, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Roosevelt, named after US 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor, had entered the Black Sea on a security mission. Later in the day, the Russian National Defense Control Center said that Russia’s Black Sea Fleet forces were tracking the movements of the US destroyer.