- Two Russian planes remained in international airspace away from the US and Canada
- Four more planes, including two bombers, were sighted in the area on Tuesday.
- Earlier Russia issued a press release on long-range training flights.
Russian military aircraft have been detected near Alaska for the second time in three days, just kilometers from the coast.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command detected the two planes on Thursday, after four other Russian aircraft, including two bombers, were detected on Tuesday.
The Russian plane remained in international airspace and did not enter US or Canadian sovereign airspace, NORAD said.
“This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not considered a threat,” NORAD said.
The Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone is a stretch of international airspace that extends 150 miles off the coast of the United States.
The Russian plane remained in international airspace and did not enter US or Canadian sovereign airspace, NORAD said (file photo)
All aircraft entering the area must be identified in the interest of national security.
NORAD uses satellites, ground and airborne radars, and fighter aircraft to detect and track aircraft entering the area.
Russia earlier issued a press release about a long-range bomber training flight to the Arctic that could explain the sighting of the fighter jets.
“The flight was carried out in strict accordance with international standards for the use of airspace,” said Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
“Long-range aviation pilots regularly fly over the neutral waters of the Arctic, the North Atlantic, the Black and Baltic Seas and the Pacific Ocean.”
Tensions between the United States and Russia are rising amid the war in Ukraine and escalating conflicts in the Middle East.
Defense experts warned that global tensions have not been this intense since at least the 1970s.
Added to the conflicts in Europe and the Red Sea, there were concerns that China could invade Taiwan.