Two Tu-160s Flew Over Barents, Norwegian, North Seas, Defence Ministry Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Two strategic missile carriers Tu-160 flew over the Barents, Norwegian and North Seas, escorted by aircraft from the Royal Air Force and the Royal Norwegian Air Force, the Russian Defence Ministry reports.

"Two strategic missile carriers Tu-160 performed a planned flight in the airspace over neutral waters of the Barents, Norwegian and North Seas," the statement says.

It is noted that the flight's duration was 12 hours.

"At certain stages of the route, the strategic missile carriers were escorted by the MiG-31 fighters of the Russian Navy, as well as the Eurofighter Typhoon of the Royal Air Force and the F-16 of the Norwegian Air Force," the ministry added.

All flights of the Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft are carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace, it said. Long-range aviation pilots regularly fly over the neutral waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, Black and Baltic Seas, as well as the Pacific Ocean.