Two Russian strategic Tu-160 bombers (NATO reporting name: Blackjack), colloquially known as "White Swans" due to their colour and huge wingspan, have carried out a scheduled flight over the neutral waters of Barents Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the North Sea, the Russian Defence Ministry has stated. The ministry released footage featuring portions of the flight of the "swans".
At some point, the strategic bombers carried out mid-air refuelling and at another, the UK's Royal Air Force escorted them in neutral airspace. The Russian Defence Ministry elaborated that two British Eurofighter Typhoon fighters followed the Tu-160 bombers without clarifying where it had happened.
Two Russian Tu-160 bombers earlier set out on a 4.5-hour flight above Belarus on 11 November carrying out a reconnaissance mission in defence of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. Moscow explained that the flight was not meant to threaten any foreign nation. Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy stressed that the Tu-160 mission was carried out amid a military buildup on the Polish side of the border with Belarus prompted by a migrant crisis.
"People who see it [as a provocative act] should remember that it is a reaction to a massive buildup on the Poland-Belarus border. We have our obligations as part of the Russia-Belarus union and within the CSTO. So if there is a military buildup on the Belarus border, we have to react", Polyanskiy said.