In a frightening display of power to the West and NATO, Russia staged a show of strategic long-range nuclear bombers over the Bering and Okhotsk seas this week. This action marked the ninth time Russian warplanes have been detected flying near Alaska this year, according to US authorities.
The US and Canada scrambled fighter jets to identify and intercept four Russian military planes in Alaska’s Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The zone is not part of US or Canadian airspace, but is instead an area of international airspace with special rules. Aircraft entering the space must identify themselves, or domestic military planes will be launched to confirm identification.
NORAD said the squad of Russian planes consisted of two strategic Tu-95MS long-range nuclear bombers, accompanied by Su-35S and Su-30SM fighters.
“This Russian activity in the Alaskan ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat,” NORAD said in its statement.
This move comes as NATO warned Russia earlier this week that it would respond decisively to any further breaches of its airspace following two incidents. Russian drones have also been downed over Poland, while Estonia said three Russian MiG-31 military aircraft had flown into its airspace earlier this month.
Also this week, suspected Russian drones caused major disruption at Copenhagen and Oslo airports. While authorities did not directly name suspects as of Tuesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen hinted at possible Kremlin involvement in what she described as the “most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date”.
“I cannot rule out that it is Russia,” Frederiksen told reporters.
Donald Trump said NATO members should shoot down Russian aircraft that enter their airspace, but did not commit to backing up US allies in such an event. The UK has also delivered a similar message to Russia on Friday morning.
Responding to a question during a meeting between him and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the American leader simply responded: “Yes I do”, an answer that left Mr Zelensky visibly surprised.
