Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that its air force conducted a scheduled flight of two nuclear-capable Tu-95ms bombers over neutral waters near Alaska. The U.S. military confirmed tracking the aircraft but did not perceive them as a threat.
The Tu-95ms bombers were accompanied by Su-35s and Su-30sm fighter jets from the Russian aerospace forces during the 15-hour mission, the ministry stated. The operation included night takeoffs, daytime mid-air refueling, and a night landing at an undisclosed airfield, as shown in video footage released by the military.
“Long-range aviation pilots routinely fly over neutral waters in the Arctic, the North Atlantic, the Black and Baltic seas, as well as the Pacific Ocean,” the Russian military noted.
The U.S. military reported detecting and monitoring the four Russian aircraft in international airspace on Tuesday. However, the planes did not enter U.S. or Canadian airspace.
“This activity in the Alaska ADIZ [Air Defense Identification Zone] is regular and not considered a threat,” the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) stated.
While such flights are a common feature of Russian military operations, this mission was notably less provocative compared to other maneuvers near Alaska that the U.S. has previously criticized as unsafe.
