The US and Canada scrambled fighter jets to identify and intercept four Russian military planes off Alaska, amid growing concern over Moscow’s incursions into Nato airspace.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said it had detected and tracked two Russian Tu-95s and two Su-35s operating in the Alaskan Air Defence Identification Zone. They did not enter US or Canadian sovereign airspace.
NORAD said it responded by mobilising an E-3, four F-16s, and four KC-135 tanker aircraft.
The Alaskan Air Defence Identification Zone is an area of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft for national security purposes, NORAD said.
The incident follows several Russian incursions into Nato airspace in the past two weeks. Last Friday, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets violated Estonia’s airspace for 12 minutes before Nato Italian fighter jets escorted them out.
Speaking during a press conference in the White House after the incident, Donald Trump did not address the jets but said he was “very disappointed” in Vladimir Putin for his ongoing war against Ukraine.
Putin is in trouble, but he also knows sanctions would cost us too
Putin’s pilots waved at NATO jets during stand-off: reports
Initiating a routine interception, the Nato pilots rocked their wings from side to side. In response, the Russian pilots mirrored the manoeuvre and gave a friendly wave, according to the Telegraph.
The Italians then trailed the pilots to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad for an unprecedented 12 minutes.
During this time, the three Russian nuclear-capable MiG-31 jets and two Italian F-35 pilots had no radio contact with each other.
US, Canada scramble fighter jets after four Russian planes detected near Alaska
The US and Canada scrambled fighter jets to identify and intercept four Russian military planes off Alaska, amid growing concern over Moscow’s incursions into Nato airspace.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said it had detected and tracked two Russian Tu-95s and two Su-35s operating in the Alaskan Air Defence Identification Zone. They did not enter US or Canadian sovereign airspace.
Nine US aircraft – an E-3 Sentry command and control aircraft, four F-16s and four KC-135 tankers – scrambled to positively identify and intercept the Russian jets, it said.
It is the third time in about a month and the ninth time this year NORAD has reported such an incident involving Russian aircraft flying near Alaska.
The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace, it said.
Russia accuses West of waging ‘real war’
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Nato and the European Union of using Ukraine to wage a “real war” against Moscow.
Lavrov claimed the West had provoked the conflict — a charge Britain dismissed as “false fantasy world distortions.”
Delivering his remarks at a G20 meeting of foreign ministers in New York, Lavrov repeated Moscow’s long-standing claim that it was Western actions that triggered the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“Another clear example is the crisis in Ukraine provoked by the West, through which NATO and the EU have … already declared a real war on my country and are directly involved in it,” he said.
He made no reference to Donald Trump’s comments earlier this week, instead repeating Russia’s position that it was the West’s actions that provoked the war in Ukraine.
