Four US F/A-18 fighters intercepted two Russian Tu-95 bombers as one of them buzzed above the US aircraft carrier Nimitz, and another flew some 90 km away from it in the Pacific on Saturday.

Two other Russian Tu-95s were trailed by Japanese F-15 fighters as one of the Tu-95s violated Japan's airspace for three minutes flying over an uninhabited island south of Tokyo. The Japanese side has sent a protest note over the incident.

The United States has not filed a diplomatic protest as such incidents had been rather common historically, especially during the Cold War, Pentagon officials announced. Some have hinted that the increased frequency of Russian air patrols had to do with the U.S. plans for a missile defense situated in Poland and the Czech Republic.

In an official statement the deputy commander of the Russian Air Force Cornel Dobrishevsky expressed his dismay over the reaction that the incident caused in western media. The statement reminds that Russia announced on Saturday about the successful ten-hour patrolling mission of four of its Tupolev bombers over the Pacific.

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