U.S. fighter jets were scrambled Wednesday to identify and intercept four Russian warplanes flying near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement .

NORAD said two Russian Tu-95 long-range strategic bombers and two Su-35 fighter jets were flying in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which is international airspace that abuts U.S. and Canadian sovereign airspace.

NORAD responded Wednesday by sending an E-3 early warning and control aircraft, along with four F-16s and four KC-135 tanker planes, "to positively identify and intercept" the Russian aircraft in the Alaskan ADIZ.

A Russian Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bomber flies over Moscow, accompanied by fighter jets, during a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in Russia's capital, in a May 7,

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