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Norway scrambles fighter jets to intercept Russian bombers

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Norway scrambles fighter jets to intercept Russian bombers
A Royal Norwegian Air Force's F-35 jet takes off from Orland Air Base during military exercises in Brekstad, Norway, in August, 2023. (Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP via Getty Images)

The Royal Norwegian Air Force scrambled F-35 fighter jets from Evenes, Norway on Nov. 16 in response to Russian aircraft, NATO Air Command reported on Nov. 17.

Russia's planes were reportedly flying close to NATO airspace.

The aircraft were identified as two Tu-160 bombers, two MiG-31 jets, and two Il-78 tankers.

The planes "returned to Russia shorty after meeting the F-35s," NATO Air Command said in a post on the social media platform X.

After the Danish Air Force intercepted Russian bombers en route to Dutch airspace in August 2023, a spokesperson for the Dutch Royal Air Force said that it was not rare for Russian planes to approach or violate European airspace.

Japan's Defense Ministry reported on Oct. 31 that a Russian helicopter violated Japanese airspace, requiring the air force to scramble fighter jets in response.

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Abbey Fenbert

Senior News Editor

Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.

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"Russian military personnel know exactly where their drones are headed and how long they can stay in the air," President Volodymyr Zelensky said, commenting on the attacks. "The routes are always calculated. This cannot be an accident, a mistake, or the initiative of some lower-level commanders."

It is the third time Russian forces have used pipelines as a tactic, which they first adopted during the Battle of Avdiivka. Back in March, around 100 troops passed through a gas pipeline to reach Ukrainian positions in Sudzha, in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.

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