MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. Two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 strategic missile-carrying bombers performed a scheduled flight over the neutral waters of the Barents and Norwegian Seas, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.

"Two Tu-160 strategic missile-carrying bombers of long-range aviation performed a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Barents and Norwegian Seas," the ministry said in a statement.

The flight lasted about seven hours, the ministry specified.

"At some sections of the flight route, the Russian strategic missile-carrying bombers were escorted by F-16 fighters of the Norwegian Air Force," the statement says.

The crews of MiG-31 aircraft of the Russian Northern Fleet’s Air Force and Air Defense Army provided fighter support for the Russian strategic bombers during the flight, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.

"The crews of long-range aircraft regularly perform flights over the neutral waters of the Arctic, the North Atlantic, the Black and Baltic Seas and the Pacific Ocean. The aircraft of Russia’s Aerospace Force perform all their flights in strict compliance with the international rules of using the airspace," the ministry stressed.