UK fighter jets scrambled to intercept Russian bombers

The Typhoons were scrambled from bases at Lossiemouth in Scotland and Coningsby in eastern England on Wednesday after the Russian bombers were detected flying over the Channel to the south of the UK, the MoD said.



"The Russian planes were escorted by the RAF until they were out of the UK area of interest,” the ministry’s Thursday statement said, Reuters reported. “At no time did the Russian military aircraft cross into UK sovereign airspace."



NATO nations have been worried by Moscow having increased its air patrols near their borders. There were 100 intercepts of Russian aircraft in 2014 - three times as many as 2013 - according to British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon.

READ MORE: Northern Europe beefs up air patrols to oppose ‘Russian invasion’

It has been acknowledged, though, that Russia’s military flights were strictly in international airspace.



Russia’s Defense Ministry earlier stressed that “all of the Russia air force flights have been carried out in strict compliance with the international rules on flights in the airspace above neutral waters, without violating other countries’ borders.”



Moscow explains the increase in air patrols near the borders of the NATO members as a response to the alliance beefing up its European presence in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.



READ MORE: NATO’s Estonia drills are anti-Russian, don’t make Europe more secure – Moscow

A NATO military buildup is listed among Russia’s major threats in to the updated version of the country’s military doctrine, adopted in late December.



READ MORE: Russia’s new military doctrine lists NATO, US as major foreign threats



Russia’s Defense Ministry announced in November it was expanding its patrol missions of long-range aircraft to cover the Gulf of Mexico.



“In the current situation we have to maintain military presence in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific, as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico,” Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said.



READ MORE: Russia to expand aviation patrol mission to Gulf of Mexico – defense minister