Russia’s defense ministry says it has retrieved fighter jets to rescue US bombers over the Bering Sea in the country’s far east as tensions between Moscow and Washington continue to rise.

Moscow said on Thursday it sent MiG-31 and Su-35 fighter jets with US Air Force B-52-N strategic bombers over the Bering Sea, which separates North America from Russia.

“Russian airspace control equipment over neutral waters of the Bering Sea detected three air targets near the state border of the Russian Federation,” Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said Russian fighters landed “safely at home” after the US plane took off from the Russian border.

“The state border of the Russian Federation was not violated,” Tass explained, using the formulaic language that Moscow employs for such missions, which have recently been accompanied by tit-for-tat flights of military aircraft between the countries. There is an increase in the frequency between.

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