British jets intercept eight Russian bombers

"In the early hours of this morning four RAF (Royal Air Force) Tornado F3 aircraft from RAF Leeming and RAF Waddington (bases) were launched to intercept eight Russian Bear aircraft which had not entered UK air space," it said in a statement.

The Tupolev Tu-95, codenamed "Bear" by NATO, is Russia's equivalent of the U.S. B-52 bomber and is a Cold War icon.

Russia's defence ministry published a statement earlier on Thursday which said 14 Russian strategic bombers had started long-range routine patrol operations on Wednesday evening over the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic.

Relations between London and Moscow are at their worst since the Cold War. Russia's refusal to extradite Andrei Lugovoy, a former KGB bodyguard suspected of murdering emigre Alexander Litvinenko in London last year, led to tit-for-tat expulsions of

diplomats from both countries.