Russian bombers were intercepted in the air in Alaska

Several Russian military planes – fighters and strategic bombers – were intercepted on Tuesday in neutral airspace off the coast of Alaska. They were returned to Russian space by planes from the USA and Canada.

According to the joint air defense team of Canada and the United States (NORAD), Russian planes did not cross the state borders of these countries and did not pose a threat. The agency also noted that the incident was not related to flying objects, several of which were shot down in the past week over the territories of Canada and the United States.

The Ministry of Defense of Russia did not comment on the incident, but reports that on February 14, strategic missile carriers of the Russian Air Force conducted scheduled flights in neutral airspace over the Bering Sea. The ministry emphasized that the flights are carried out in strict accordance with the international rules for the use of airspace.

A day earlier, a similar incident occurred over the Baltic Sea: on February 13, a Russian Il-20M reconnaissance aircraft accompanied by two fighters was spotted by NATO forces in the immediate vicinity of the air border of Poland. Dutch fighters stationed at the Polish Malbork military base were lifted into the air and drove the Russian planes deep into neutral space. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands, the planes took off from the base of the Russian Air Force in the Kaliningrad region.