The incident comes just weeks after American and Canadian fighter jets were scrambled when multiple Russian warplanes were spotted over the Arctic.

The Russian Federation has lost several hundred aircraft during the war with Ukraine. Military analyst Aleksandr Kovalenko estimates that the losses in aviation currently exceed 300 aircraft.

The Russian aircraft, which remained in international airspace, were not seen as a threat, but eight military planes were dispatched to monitor their activity, NORAD said in a statement.

The Ukrainian army says it has fired a wave of drones into Russia, sparking a blaze at the country’s oil depot and causing explosions at a plant producing military aircraft.