Let the bombers fly | The Week
- Select a language for the TTS:
- UK English Female
- UK English Male
- US English Female
- US English Male
- Australian Female
- Australian Male
- Language selected: (auto detect) - EN
Play all audios:
MOSCOW Russia has resumed long-range patrols by strategic bombers that can drop nuclear weapons on U.S. targets. “Such tours of duty will be conducted regularly and on a strategic scale,”
said President Vladimir Putin. “Our pilots have been grounded for too long. They are happy to start a new life.” Russia had stopped sending bomber patrols over the Atlantic, Pacific, and
Arctic oceans shortly after the Soviet Union dissolved, in 1991. But Putin, who is taking an increasingly aggressive stance toward the West, said NATO and the U.S. had not reciprocated, and
that “security concerns’’ required a more active Russian military. The U.S. downplayed the news. “If Russia feels as though they want to take some of these old aircraft out of mothballs and
get them flying again, that’s their decision,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. Soon, though, newer jets could join the patrols. Putin has ordered new production of strategic
nuclear bombers. A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com SUBSCRIBE TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the
news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives. SUBSCRIBE & SAVE SIGN UP FOR THE WEEK'S FREE NEWSLETTERS From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the
best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.