American fighters F-22 intercepted two Russian strategic bombers Tu-95 off the coast of Alaska, reports The Washington Free Beacon with reference to the Command of the Air and Space Defense of North America (NORAD).

Bombers were seen near the Aleutian Islands, said the representative of NORAD Mikhail Kucharek.

According to him, Russian bombers were in the "Alaska airspace identification zone", but they did not enter the airspace of the USA or Canada. According to Kucharek, the F-22 intercepted and escorted the bombers until they left the identification zone.

As noted in the Pentagon, along with Tu-95 there was at least one Il-78 tanker, which testifies "that the bombers have come a long way and that they need refueling during the flight".

The US military added that the interception coincided with the "East" exercises in the Far East and, possibly, were part of the military games. One of the interlocutors of Washington Free Beacon suggested that the bombers practiced "strikes with cruise missiles on air defense systems in Alaska", writes the publication.

Interception took place in the area of ??the deployment of the Cobra Dane radar system, which tracks Russian missile launches and flights.

It is located on the island of Simia - one of the Aleutian Islands at a distance of about 2 thousand kilometers west of Anchorage.

The bombers were also "at a cruise missile flight distance" from the US air defense system at the base in Fort Greeley in Alaska, and also close enough to a potential strike at the US Air Force base at Clear Air in the central part of the state, notes The Washington Free Beacon.

In May, American fighters intercepted two Tu-95s off the coast of Alaska. A similar incident occurred in April.