MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) - The NATO exercise practicing combat engagement of strategic planes on the border with Russia is hostile, Federation Council Defense and Security Committee Chairman Yury Bondarev said.
"We believe that the practicing of combat engagement of strategic aircraft in the close vicinity of the Russian border has a hostile and provocative nature," Bondarev said at a meeting with military attaches.
The intensity of flights of NATO intelligence aircraft along the Russian border has grown a lot lately, Bondarev said.
"Compared to last year, the number of such flights has grown more than 30%," he said.
"In each case, our air defense systems timely detected foreign military planes, put them under continuous surveillance, and took measures to prevent any violation of the Russian border from happening," Bondarev said.
Russia has no interest in escalating tensions, he said.
"Most combat training events of the Russian Armed Forces are held inside the country. What is more, Russia is set to develop constructive interaction with the United States and its allies," Bondarev said.
As Interfax reported earlier, chief of the Russian General Staff's Main Operational Department Sergei Rudskoi said in September 2020 that U.S. B-52 strategic bombers held exercises above the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov three times and simulated the delivery of missile strikes at military sites in southern Russia.