The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that one of its warplanes intercepted two US bombers over the Baltic Sea that were approaching the Russian border.
The Ministry of Defense said – via its Telegram account – that "after the withdrawal of the two foreign warplanes from the Russian border, the Russian fighter returned to its air base" without any incident.
The ministry said the two planes in question were U.S. Air Force B-1B strategic bombers and "were approaching the Russian border," adding that it had sent Su-1 fighter jets to intercept them.
It added that the Russian border had not been violated. "The flight of the Russian fighter jet took place within the framework of strict compliance with the rules of international airspace," the Russian ministry said.
Incidents between Russian and NATO aircraft have doubled in recent years, even before the war in Ukraine began.
Last week, a similar incident occurred over the Baltic Sea between a Russian fighter jet and French and German military aircraft.
In early May, Warsaw reported that a Russian manhunt approached a Polish border patrol plane operating in the Black Sea as part of the European border agency Frontex, putting it at risk.
A month earlier, two Russian warplanes headed to intercept a U.S. Reaper MQ-9 drone in the Black Sea that crashed into the sea, causing tension between Washington and Moscow.