Four Russian military aircraft approaching the United Kingdom were stopped by fighter jets from the British Royal Air Force, a statement from the force said.
The force said four Russian strategic bombers were “intercepted and escorted,” adding that they did not enter U.K. airspace at any point.
The Typhoon jets took off from British air force bases in Lossiemouth, northeast Scotland, and they were joined by a Voyager air-to-air refueling tanker launched from Oxfordshire, England.
"The Russian aircraft types were two Tu-95 Bear H and two Tu-142 Bear F," it said.
The force routinely intercepts aircraft approaching what it describes as the “UK area of interest." It has said previously that Russian military aircraft entering the U.K.’s policed zone of international airspace can pose a hazard to other air users because they often do not talk to air traffic control.
In November 2021, jets were launched in response to Russian strategic bombers. Officials said at the time the fighters escorted the Russian aircraft out of the “area of interest” and that the bombers did not enter U.K. airspace.
The latest Russian flight near British airspace comes amid heightened tensions between Moscow and the Western powers over a Russian military buildup along the Ukrainian border.
On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed his "deep concern" at Russia's "current hostile activity" on Ukraine's border in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Johnson urged finding a way forward that respects Ukraine's territorial integrity and right to self-defense, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.
"The prime minister stressed that any further Russian incursion into Ukrainian territory would be a tragic miscalculation," the spokesperson added.
