U.S. B-52 bombers escorted by Ukrainian fighters fly over Ukraine

11:18, 05.09.2020 1 min read

B-52 bombers of the United States Air Force have entered Ukraine's airspace for the first time, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Friday evening.

"American strategic bombers were escorted by Su-27 and MiG-29 fighter jets of the tactical aviation brigade of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

"On the morning of September 4, the bombers took off from Fairford Air Force Base in the United Kingdom, flew over Europe, where they were accompanied by fighter jets from NATO and key allied partners. Ukrainian military pilots met the B-52 on the Polish border, escorted it through the territory of Ukraine to the coast of the Sea of Azov and back," the report says.

"The patrol is planned and aims to achieve interoperability between NATO and partner states. It is likely that such cooperation in the field of collective security will continue," it says.