According to the ministry, MiG-31 and Su-35 were scrambled to escort two Rockwell B-1 Lancer bombers.
"On 21 October Russian airspace control means over neutral waters of Bering Sea detected two air targets approaching to the state border of Russia", the report says.
The crew of the Russian fighter of the Eastern Military District identified the aerial targets as the US Air Force's two Rockwell B-1 Lancer bombers and escorted them, successfully preventing border violations, the Russian military added.
Russia's MiG-31 and Su-35 fighters have intercepted two strategic bombers of the US Air Force over the Bering Sea, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. #Russia pic.twitter.com/zaVodilNAb
— Sputnik Insight (@Sputnik_Insight) October 21, 2020
The flight of Russian fighters MiG-31 and Su-35 was conducted strictly in accordance with international rules for the use of airspace. No violations of the Russian state border were allowed, the ministry said.
"The Russian fighter returned safely to the home airfield after escorting the foreign aircraft", the statement read on.
Earlier, the US Air Force already raised F-22 fighters to escort Russian Tu-95MS strategic missile carriers over the neutral waters of the Chukchi, Beaufort, Bering and Sea of Okhotsk.
NATO aircraft have intensified reconnaissance activities near the Russian border over the past month. Moscow has warned that such regular flights by US and NATO aircraft near Russia's border poses the risk of accidental escalation.
