RAF fighter jets joined an exercise with American supersonic bombers in a show of force to Russia as tensions over the Ukraine war escalate.
Putin and the Kremlin will have taken note of the USAF B-1B Lancer aircraft, which can reach speeds of 950mph making Moscow just a short flight from a runway in Britain.
Lancer bombers are capable of carrying nuclear weapons but have not done so since 2007. The super high-tech aircraft were commissioned by the US Air Force to replace the aging B-52 bomber fleet.
Pictures shared by the RAF on their X page show a British Typhoon and F-35 flying in formation with the bombers over the North Sea. In one photo the pilots of both the bomber and jet can clearly see one another.
The flight comes as two French Mirage 2000-5s were sent to cut off Russian SU-30-M aircraft after they flew over the Baltic Sea on Thursday.
The NATO and Russian military encounters come as Ukrainian forces have suffered a series of setbacks on the frontline in the war against Putin’s war machine.
The Russian leader was in a bullish mood this week during an annual address to the nation in which he said his country’s nuclear forces were at “full readiness”.
The dictator, who is expected to “win” another term as president in elections later this year, has been accused of killing his main political rival Alexei Navalny who died in a penal colony last month.
In an unusual show of defiance to Putin and the Kremlin, hundreds of people took to the streets to mourn Mr Navalny, who was the main opposition party leader, at his funeral near Moscow on Friday.
Despite repeated Russian threats concerning nuclear weapons, NATO has not shown any signs of backing down and the alliance is expected to welcome Sweden in a matter of months after accepting Finland last year.
Speaking on the two-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary general, said it was ‘not if, but when’ Ukraine would also join the military partnership.
