According to the Defence Ministry, Russian airspace control devices detected an air target approaching Russian airspace over the Pacific Ocean.
"To identify an aerial target and prevent illegal entrance into Russian airspace, a MiG-31 fighter from the air defence forces of the Eastern Military District took off", the centre said.
MiG-31 interceptor fighter takes off during a training flight at the State Centre for the Training of Aviation Personnel and Military Tests of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation n.a. V.P. Chkalova in Lipetsk
© Sputnik / Nina Padalko
/ The crew of the Russian fighter identified the target as a US Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft and escorted it over the Pacific Ocean along the southeastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the centre said.
The statement was issued just a few hours after Russian warplanes had been scrambled to escort three American В-52Н bombers spotted near the country's border in the Bering Sea.