MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/. Two Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bombers flew over the neutral waters of the Barents and Norwegian Seas and were escorted by foreign fighter jets at some stages of the flight, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.
"Two Tu-95MS strategic missile-carrying bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ long-range aviation performed a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Barents and Norwegian Seas. The flight lasted over four hours. The crews of MiG-31 aircraft of the Aerospace Forces provided fighter support for the flight," the ministry said in a statement.
At some stages of the flight, the Russian Tu-95MS strategic 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.