Russian strategic bombers patrol Baltic Sea

Two Tu-160 strategic bombers of Russia's Aerospace Forces have conducted a scheduled flight over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, Russia's defense ministry said Wednesday.

The mission lasted for more than eight hours, and at some stages of the flight the Russian aircraft were accompanied by fighter jets from Finland, Denmark, Poland and Sweden, the ministry said in a news release.

Russia's long-range aviation forces regularly fly over the Arctic, North Atlantic, the Black and Baltic Seas, and the Pacific in strict compliance with international rules, it added.