MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/. Russia’s Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bombers have performed a scheduled flight over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"Tu-22M3 long-range bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces have performed a scheduled flight over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea. They were escorted by Su-35S and Su-30SM aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces," the ministry said in a statement.

The flight continued for more than five hours. At certain stages of the route, the long-range bombers were escorted by fighter jets of foreign countries.

The ministry said that long-range aviation crews regularly fly over the neutral waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, Pacific oceans as well as Baltic and Black seas. All flights of the Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft are carried out in strict compliance with international rules on the use of airspace over international waters.