Russian, Chinese bombers fly joint patrol

MOSCOW — Russian and Chinese strategic bombers on Wednesday flew a joint patrol over the western Pacific in a show of increasingly close defense ties between the two countries.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Tu-95 bombers of the Russian air force and the Chinese H-6K bombers flew over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea during an eighthour mission.

As part of the drills, the Russian bombers for the first time landed in China and the Chinese bombers flew to an air base in Russia, the ministry said in a statement. It noted that the joint patrols weren’t directed against any other country.

China’s Defense Ministry described Wednesday’s patrols as a “routine” part of an annual cooperation plan between the two militaries.

The exercise comes after a series of joint drills intended to showcase a growing military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing as they both face tensions with the United States.

(AP/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service) In this photo released on Wednesday, a view of a Tu-95 strategic bomber of the Russian air force taking off for a joint air patrol with Chinese bombers at an airbase in an unspecified location in Russia.