NATO was forced to scramble warplanes to monitor the hulking Russian “Bears”. The Christmas show of strength came amid high tension over the war in Ukraine.

The bombers flew to Britain’s doorstep. (Image: east2west)

Vladimir Putin sent his Tu-95MS strategic nuclear bombers to threaten the north of Britain on a long-range Christmas flight over the Norwegian Sea. NATO was forced to scramble warplanes to monitor the hulking Russian “Bears”.

The Christmas show of strength came amid high tension over the war in Ukraine.

“Tu-95MS long-range bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces made a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea,” said Moscow’s defence ministry. “The flight duration was more than seven hours.”

Su-33 fighter jets of the Russian Navy escorted the long-range bombers.

“At certain stages of the route, long-range bombers were escorted by fighter jets of foreign countries,” said the Russian statement, which did not identify which NATO air forces had intercepted the Tu-95MS aircraft.

The war game flight appeared to be a deliberate Putin bid to rile the West close to Santa’s flight path from the North Pole.

Russia, in contrast, observes Christmas Day on January 7, according to the calendar used by the Orthodox Church.

The Norwegian Sea lies to the northeast of Scotland, between Norway and Iceland.

The planes, known as “Bears,” were first flown in the 1950s but remain a mainstay of Putin’s nuclear triad.

The super noisy Tupolevs are the world’s only propeller-powered strategic bombers.

The planes have also been used to launch devastating conventional missile strikes, causing large-scale death and destruction in Ukraine.