WASHINGTON, January 27. /TASS/. Three US and two Canadian aircraft were scrambled on Saturday in connection with the scheduled flight of two Russian strategic bombers Tu-160 over the Arctic Ocean, NORAD Public Affairs told TASS on Sunday.

"An E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System, two F-22, two CF-18 fighter jets from North American Aerospace Defense Command positively identified two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers entering the Canadian Air Defense Identification Zone on January 26, 2019. Bombers remained in international airspace and did not enter sovereign territory," it said. US aircraft took off from an air force base in Alaska.

Crews of two Tu-160 strategic bombers completed a scheduled flight over neutral waters of the Arctic Ocean on Saturday and practiced refueling, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The flight took over 15 hours, the Ministry noted.

Long-range aviation pilots regularly make flights over neutral waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, Black and Caspian Seas, and the Pacific, the Ministry said. "All fights of Russian Aerospace Force are performed in strict compliance with international rules of airspace use," it added.