Russian Ambassador Quells British Media Panic About Russian Bombers

Ambassador Yakovlenko penned a letter to the Daily Telegraph explaining the situation with Russian military aircraft activity in the Baltic.

The Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom sent a letter to the editor of the Daily Telegraph clarifying the situation with Russian strategic bomber flights to the country's mass media.

"Russian planes do regularly fly to remote geographical areas and will continue to do so. This is required for personnel training and to verify aircraft capabilities. All flights are carried out in strict accordance with international regulations," Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko wrote.

The ambassador added that although Russian aircraft sorties over the Baltic Sea have increased from 125 to 200 in a nine-month period in 2014, NATO aircraft activity at Russian borders doubled to 3,000 sorties in the same year.

"Flights of Russian military aircraft are often accompanied by jets from Nato countries and their partners. This is ordinary practice, and the level of public attention on the latest incidents in the vicinity of British airspace is overblown," Yakovenko added.

Media in the United Kingdom have raised alarm about Russian bomber flights in recent weeks. On February 19, the Guardian published a witness account which claimed that a Russian bomber went into British airspace, but was later rebutted by the country's Defense Ministry.