Russian fighter jets escorted US Air Force bomber after it reportedly approached Russian airspace
Russian fighter jets were scrambled to escort
a US Air Force plane that reportedly approached Russian airspace over the
Pacific Ocean, Russian state news agency TASS said Sunday.
There were no violations of Russia's state
border during the episode, according to TASS, which, citing Russia's National
Defense Command Center, said "three Russian fighters Sukhoi-35S have been
scrambled to escort a US strategic bomber B-52H, which approached Russia's
airspace."
"The fighters' crews identified the
target as a strategic B-52H bomber of the US Air Force and escorted it over the
Pacific Ocean. There were no violations of Russia's state border or dangerous
proximity of planes in the air," TASS added.
According to the state-owned news agency, the
fighter jets "strictly followed" international rules and returned to
base after the US plane moved away from the Russian border.
CNN has reached out to the Pentagon for
comment.
The incident marks the latest salvo in recent
years between Russian aircraft and either US or NATO aircraft. In
March, NATO scrambled fighter jets 10 times to track and intercept an
unusually "rare peak" of Russian bombers and fighters flying over the
North Sea, Black Sea and Baltic Sea, a NATO official said at the time.
And in August 2020, two Russian aircraft
made an "unsafe, unprofessional" intercept of a US Air Force
B-52 bomber over the Black Sea and in international waters, causing turbulence
to the B-52 that restricted its ability to maneuver.
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