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Source Aftenposten english web desk
And the same story from The Norway PostNorway's Defense Ministry was boosting its preparedness after Russia sent more bombers on training missions near Norwegian air space last week.
"We have strengthened our preparedness in the north, and sent extra fighter jets to Bodø," state secretary Espen Barth Eide told newspaper Aftenposten over the weekend."
His comments came after more Russian bombers were spotted off the Norwegian coast on Friday. Norwegian fighter jets were sent out several times to monitor the Russians' flights, and make sure they stayed out of Norwegian territory.
The Russian flights come just a few weeks after an earlier set of what the Russian military is calling "training exercises." The Norwegians consider the flights a power play on the part of the Russians.
"Russia wants to make it clear that we should view them as a superpower," Barth Eide said. "At the same time, they want to prove that they have the resources to carry out such exercises."
He stressed that Russian officials had notified their Norwegian counterparts about the training missions, and that they wouldn't violate Norwegian air space.
On Friday Norwegian F-16 jet fighters from the Bodoe air base spent altogether 10 hours in the air, monitoring Russian military aircraft off the Norwegian coast.
From the early hours of the morning, 14 Russian jet bombers carried out strategic exercices in international airspace off the Norwegian coast. - It is the first time since the end of the cold war that the Russian military activity in the North has been at this high a level, says Bodoe Wing Commander Per Egil Rygg to NRK.
Also on Friday, President Vladimir Putin announced that the Russians have resumed their strategic long-distance flights on a permanent basis.
Putin said this at a press briefing during a joint Russian-Chinese military exersice in the Ural mountains.
Undersecretary of State, Espen Barth Eide says Norway has increased its military preparedness in the North, and sent extra fighter planes to Bodoe.
However, he underlines that the Russians had informed Norway about the exercices, and that the planes did not violate Norwegian airspace.
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