Russia's defense ministry said on Tuesday that two of its Tu-95MS strategic missile carriers made a routine flight over the Sea of Japan.
SU-30 CM and SU-35 C jet fighters escorted the bombers during a seven-hour sortie.
The flights were carried out in compliance with international law and were made over neutral waters, the defense ministry was quoted as saying.
The flights came two days after US Indo-Pacific Command and the Japan Self-Defense Forces conducted a bilateral bomber integration exercise over the Sea of Japan and coincide with the visits of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Kyiv and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Moscow.
(Reuters)