MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/. Two Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3 long-range bombers flew over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea and were escorted by foreign fighter jets at some stages of the flight, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.

"Two Tu-22M3 long-range bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces performed a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea. The crews of Su-30SM and Su-27 aircraft of the Aerospace Forces provided fighter support. The flight lasted about five hours," the ministry said in a statement.

At some stages of the flight, the Russian Su-22M3 bombers were escorted by fighter jets of foreign states, it said.

The crews of Russia’s long-range aircraft regularly perform flights over the neutral waters of the Arctic, the Northern Atlantic, the Pacific Ocean, the Black and Baltic Seas, the ministry said.

"The aircraft of Russia’s Aerospace Forces perform all the flights in strict compliance with the international rules of using the airspace," it stressed.