Two Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic missile-carrying bombers performed a scheduled flight over the Black Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.

"Two Tu-95MS strategic missile-carrying bombers of long-range aviation performed a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Black Sea," the statement says.

The crews of Su-27 fighters of the Southern Military District’s Air Force and Air Defense Army provided support for the strategic bombers during the flight that lasted over five hours, the ministry said.

The crews of Russian long-range aircraft regularly perform flights over the neutral waters of the Arctic, the North Atlantic, the Black and Baltic Seas and the Pacific Ocean, it said.

The aircraft of Russia’s Aerospace Force perform all their flights in strict compliance with the international rules of using the airspace, the ministry stressed.