Russian bombers accompanied by NATO fighter jets have completed a patrol off the northwest coast of the United States, the Russian air force said Wednesday, Interfax reported.

"NATO fighter jets accompanied the planes of long range aviation in the area of Alaska during the air patrol," Alexander Drobyshevsky, assistant to the head of the Russian air force, was quoted as saying.

Two long range-bombers and two Il-78 flight refuelling tankers took part in the 15-hour patrol over the Arctic and Pacific oceans, he said. Drobyshevsky did not say when the patrol took place.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in August 2007 that Moscow was resuming with immediate effect the Cold War practice of sending strategic bombers on long-range flights well beyond its borders.