NATO scrambled fighter jets to the airspace over the UK after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent long-range nuclear capable bombers to threaten northern Britain on Christmas Day.
Su-33 fighter jets escorted the Tu-95MS strategic nuclear bomber during its flight. Russia confirmed that its strategic bomber flew to the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea to perform what it described as a “test flight”. "Tu-95MS long-range bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces made a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea. The flight duration was more than seven hours," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The Russian ministry said that at certain points along the flight path, the long-range bombers were escorted by fighter jets from other countries, though it did not name which NATO air forces intercepted the Tu-95MS aircraft. Russia has previously used these bombers in attacks on Ukraine.
The incident on Thursday was not the first case instant of Russia violating NATO’s air space. In October, Poland scrambled its MiG-29 fighter jets to intercept a Russian II-20 reconnaissance aircraft. Earlier on September, NATO scrambled fighter jets after sighting of Russian reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea. Estonia, Norway, Denmark have also reported violation of their airspace by Russia on several occasions this year.
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