The US has deployed fighter jets against Russian warplanes flying near Alaska

NORAD said Wednesday’s encounter marked the third time in about a month and the ninth time this year that Russian military aircraft have flown near Alaska.

In a statement issued early Thursday, the command reported detecting and tracking two Tu-95 bombers and two Su-35 fighters inside the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone.

Nine U.S. aircraft — an E-3 Sentry command-and-control plane, four F-16 fighters, and four KC-135 tankers — were scrambled to identify and intercept the Russian jets, according to NORAD.

The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and never entered U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace, NORAD stressed, adding that such flights occur regularly and are not viewed as a direct threat.

The incident came a day after President Donald Trump said Ukraine could retake all territory lost to Russia — a sharp departure from his earlier calls for Kyiv to make concessions to end the war.

Also Tuesday, NATO warned Moscow it would defend against any further airspace incursions, following the downing of Russian drones over Poland and Estonia’s report of a fighter jet breach last week. Trump separately said NATO members should shoot down Russian aircraft that cross into their airspace, while noting U.S. support “depends on the circumstance.”

Trump has claimed he is working to arrange direct talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after meeting Putin in Alaska last month. But Moscow has shown no willingness to engage, instead intensifying its bombardment of Ukraine.