Russia says it scrambled fighter jets to intercept U.S. bomber planes over Barents Sea

Russia said on Sunday it had deployed fighter jets to intercept two long-range U.S. military bombers approaching the Russian border over the Barents Sea in the Arctic.

“The crews of the Russian fighters identified the air target as two B-52H strategic bombers of the US Air Force,” the Moscow Defense Ministry wrote on the social media platform Telegram. The ministry specified that the aircraft that took off were MiG-29 and MiG-31 fighters.

“As the Russian fighters approached, the American strategic bombers turned away from the state border of the Russian Federation,” the ministry said.

The U.S. routinely conducts flights over international waters. Moscow has recently responded more aggressively to the exercises, accusing the U.S. in June of using its drone reconnaissance flights over neutral waters in the Black Sea to help Ukraine attack Russian-occupied Crimea.

Last month, Moscow warned of a “direct confrontation” between Russia and NATOand Russia’s defense minister ordered officials to prepare a “response” to US drone flights over the Black Sea, in a stark warning that strong measures may be taken to fend off the American reconnaissance aircraft.

Washington and Moscow have clashed over this issue before. March 2023a Russian Su-27 fighter jet damaged an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, causing it to crash into the Black Sea. It was the first direct confrontation between Russian and American forces since the Cold War.

A repeat of such a confrontation could further inflame tensions over the situation. the war in Ukraine.