The Times of London reports:

OSLO. Two Russian bombers yesterday flew close to the Netherlands where Nato defence ministers were meeting, the Norwegian military said. The Tupolev 160 strategic bombers stayed in international airspace. Two Russian Tupolev 95 bombers had earlier flown close to Norwegian airspace, prompting Norway to send F16 fighters to intercept them. In recent months, Russia has flown bombers close to other countries in an apparent demonstration of its military might.

RIA Novosti has more details:

Two Russian Tu-95 Bear strategic bombers will practice on Friday launches of cruise missiles at a testing site in southern Russia, an Air Force spokesman said. Russian strategic bombers began on October 16 a series of long-range training flights over the Arctic region, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and the Black Sea with simulated bomber raids and missile launches missiles at testing grounds in northern and southern Russia. The exercises will continue until October 30 Colonel Alexander Drobyshevsky also said up to 10 Tu-95MS bombers and two Il-78 aerial tankers flew scheduled flight patrols on Thursday in neutral airspace, and were accompanied for at least five hours by NATO F-16 and Tornado fighters. Russia has stepped up practice runs of its strategic bombers ever since President Vladimir Putin announced the resumption of strategic patrol flights on August 17. The president said at the time that although the country halted long-distance strategic flights to remote regions in 1992, other nations had continued the practice, compromising Russian national security. Although NATO countries expressed concern over possible violations of their airspace and scramble their fighters as a "routine response" when Russian bombers fly close to their borders, Moscow says all the latest flights are within air patrolling corridors permitted by international regulations.

David Essel writes:

The Russians are sending their old war toys out to harass, but look at what they've got.

They send this old Lada, entered service 1956:


to play against this, introduced 1997:



David & Goliath is a good Bible story but real life does not usually play out that way, thankfully.

Facts and pix courtesy Wikipedia.