Britain Summons Russian Ambassador after Bombers Intercepted

Britain said it had summoned the Russian ambassador Thursday after Russian military planes were found flying close to British airspace.

The move comes after a string of similar incidents and amid tense relations between Moscow and the West over the conflict in Ukraine and the killing in London of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.

"Russian aircraft maneuver yesterday are part of an increasing pattern of out of area operations by Russian aircraft," the Foreign Office said in a statement.

"While the Russian planes did not enter sovereign UK airspace and were escorted by RAF Typhoons throughout the time they were in the UK area of interest, the Russian planes caused disruption to civil aviation. 

"That is why we summoned the Russian Ambassador today to account for the incident."

The Ministry of Defense said that the planes involved in the latest incident Wednesday were Tupolev Tu-95 bombers, known by their NATO classification as Russian "bears".