US bombers intercepted by Russian jets near Kaliningrad on Monday

WASHINGTON: Two B-52 Stratofortress bombers of the United States were intercepted by 2 Russian SU-27 combatant jets adjacent Russia’s Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad connected Monday, a U.S. authoritative said connected Tuesday.

The U.S. bombers were successful the Baltic Sea portion to bid unneurotic with their NATO state Finland, which shares a 1,340 km (833 mile) borderline with Russia, amid escalating tensions stemming from Western backing for Ukraine to antagonistic Russia’s invasion.

Monday’s interception of the U.S. bombers by Russian combatant jets came conscionable days aft Russia fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic rocket astatine Ukraine past Thursday successful effect to a determination by the U.S. and Britain to let Kyiv to onslaught Russian territory with precocious Western weapons.

The U.S. bombers did not alteration their pre-planned formation signifier during what was deemed a harmless and nonrecreational intercept by the Russian Su-27s, the U.S. authoritative told Reuters.

On Monday, the U.S. B-52s besides flew with Finnish F/A-18Cs during a U.S-Finnish drill successful Finnish airspace.

The Finnish Air Force said successful an emailed connection to Reuters that its combatant jets and the U.S. bombers had flown a grooming ngo successful Finnish airspace connected Monday arsenic portion of efforts to fortify Finland’s defence capability.

The Finnish Air Force connection did not code the Russian intercept but said the drill had included “simulated air-to-ground drops show our quality to enactment unneurotic successful fire-use missions”, adding the practice besides contributed to NATO’s corporate defence and deterrence successful the acold north.

In an abrupt departure from its long-standing argumentation not to align itself militarily, Finland joined NATO successful 2023 successful nonstop effect to Russia’s full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful 2022.

Having fought backmost an penetration effort by the Soviet Union during World War Two, Finland has been among the staunchest European supporters of Ukraine successful its effort to propulsion backmost the Russian invaders.