A Russian Tu-95MS long-range bomber escorted by a Su-35 multirole fighter. The photo is taken from cockpit of a Norwegian F-35 over the Barents Sea on Friday. Photo: Norwegian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces said it scrambled two F-35s for NATO to identify two Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers that flew west over the Barents Sea on February 27.
The Russian bombers were accompanied by two Su-35 fighter jets. Photos released showed that the Tu-95MS planes were armed with cruise missiles under the wings. Also the Su-35s were combat-ready, carrying air-to-air missiles.
The Norwegian planes met the Russians in international airspace over the Barents Sea. “… a routine activity, but and important part of monitoring and safeguarding our region,” the Norwegian Armed Forces said in a statement on X.
Also earlier this week, on February 25, Norwegian F-35s from Evenes air station were scrambled to identify Russian military planes over the Barents Sea. Two jets, a Su-24 and a Su-33, were followed north of Finnmark, the Norwegian Air Force informed in a post on Facebook.
The military planes were likely supporting the Russian Northern Fleet’s combat exercise, taking place north of the Varanger fjord area this week.
One of Russia’s largest warships, the guided-missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov, has trained anti-aircraft shootings in the maritime border region with Norway, according to the Northern Fleet’s press service.
The crew also trained in countering unmanned robotic systems, destroying simulated targets with rapid-fire artillery gun in addition to completing series of artillery firing exercises at sea and shore targets.
Last weekend, the Northern Fleet closed off an area for artillery shooting only a few nautical miles from the border with Norway near Grense Jakobselv. The Norwegian Armed Forces, however, is unwilling to answer questions about what actually happened. Russia’s Northern Fleet has on several occasions previously announced missiles or artillery shooting near Norway, but without any live-fire taking place.
Russia’s military muscles flexing in the Barents Sea comes amid NATO’s increasing presence throughout the alliance’s Arctic territory.
In February 2026, NATO launched Arctic Sentry, a multi-domain military activity aimed at further strengthening deterrence and defense across in northern regions. The move follows decisions in recent months to establish a Forward Land Forces (FLF) in Rovaniemi, Finland, and a Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Bodø, Norway.
With kick-off on March 9, the Norwegian-led military winter exercise Cold Response will be joined by troops from 14 NATO countries. The exercise is NATO’s largest inside the Arctic Circle in 2026 and will take place in northern Norway and Finnish Lapland, on land, at sea and in the air.
However, NATO underlines in a statement that the Cold Response “is not linked to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.” No part of the exercise involves troops anywhere near the border with Russia’s military stronghold on the Kola Peninsula.…Read more by Thomas Nilsen