U.K. Scrambles Jets Against Russian Bombers for Second Day

(Bloomberg) --

The U.K. scrambled Typhoon fighters against Russian aircraft for a second day on Thursday, intercepting two bombers approaching its airspace, the Ministry of Defence said.

The British jets were deployed from a Royal Air Force military base in Scotland and were accompanied by an air-to-air refueling tanker, the ministry said in a statement. The bombers were escorted away from the U.K.'s area of interest and didn't enter its skies, according to a person familiar with the situation. 

The operation followed a similar incident on Wednesday, where British jets intercepted four Russian bombers. The ministry didn't say where the Russian planes were on either occasion.

Read More: U.K. Deploys Typhoon Jets to Intercept Four Russian Aircraft

The U.K. alongside NATO has frequently deployed its quick-response jets in the past to intercept Russian military aircraft and this latest approach comes at a time of heightened tensions between President Vladimir Putin and the West over the situation in Ukraine. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to Putin on Wednesday afternoon and warned him it would be a “tragic miscalculation” if there were any further Russian incursion into Ukraine.

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