MOSCOW, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry denied on Tuesday reports that the country's warplanes had performed dangerous maneuvers near an Icelandic civilian plane over the Norwegian Sea.
Such reports are no more than "the fruit of their imagination," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.
On Monday, the Icelandic Foreign Ministry complained that three Tu-160 bombers flew between 6,000 and 9,000 feet (1,800-2,700 meters) below a civilian plane flying from Reykjavik to Stockholm on Thursday.
The Russian Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bombers performed a regular aerial patrol mission over the north-eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean, said the spokesman, without specifying the number of bombers participating in the mission.
The Russian bombers were accompanied by NATO Air Force fighters in a number of sections of the route, he added.
