By Mike Stone and Anne Kauranen
WASHINGTON D.C./ HELSINKI (Reuters) - Two B-52 Stratofortress bombers of the United States were intercepted by two Russian SU-27 fighter jets near Russia's Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad on Monday, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.
The U.S. bombers were in the Baltic Sea region to train together with their NATO ally Finland, which shares a 1,340 km (833 mile) border with Russia, amid escalating tensions stemming from Western backing for Ukraine to counter Russia's invasion.
Monday's interception of the U.S. bombers by Russian fighter jets came just days after Russia fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine last Thursday in response to a decision by the U.S. and Britain to allow Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced Western weapons.
The U.S. bombers did not change their pre-planned flight pattern during what was deemed a safe and professional intercept by the Russian Su-27s, the U.S. official told Reuters.
On Monday, the U.S. B-52s also flew with Finnish F/A-18Cs during a U.S-Finnish drill in Finnish airspace.
The Finnish Air Force said in an emailed statement to Reuters that its fighter jets and the U.S. bombers had flown a training mission in Finnish airspace on Monday as part of efforts to strengthen Finland's defence capability.
The Finnish Air Force statement did not address the Russian intercept but said the drill had included "simulated air-to-ground drops (to) demonstrate our ability to work together in fire-use missions", adding the cooperation also contributed to NATO's collective defence and deterrence in the far north.
In an abrupt departure from its long-standing policy not to align itself militarily, Finland joined NATO in 2023 in direct response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Having fought back an invasion attempt by the Soviet Union during World War Two, Finland has been among the staunchest European supporters of Ukraine in its attempt to push back the Russian invaders.