NATO fighter jets have been scrambled after Russian nuclear bombers flew close to the UK coast.

Russia launched nuclear drills north of Shetland this week. Tu-160 nuclear-capable bombers flew a 16-hour mission over the the Barents and Norwegian Seas.

F-35 fifth-generation fighters from NATO intercepted the Russian intercontinental strategic bombers and their escort of MiG-31 interceptor aircraft.

The Norwegian Sea lies directly to the north of Shetland, the UK’s most northerly island grouping, between Norway and Iceland. Tu-160s practised in-flight refuelling over the neutral waters, the defence ministry in Moscow revealed earlier today.

The Tupolev Tu-160 – NATO reporting name ‘Blackjack’ – is the largest and heaviest combat aircraft ever to enter operational service.

The strategic military bombers can carry 45 tonnes of weapons in their internal bomb bays including both nuclear and conventional long-range cruise missiles.

The show of force came as it was reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov advocated for the use of nuclear weapons at a closed meeting of the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy.

“Lavrov spoke there, and at the very end of his speech, according to an eyewitness, diplomatically avoiding some questions about whether [Russia] should use nuclear weapons, said: ‘Well, I would still use them’,” said political analyst Andrey Kolesnikov.

He added that Lavrov, 76, who has been Russian foreign minister for 22 years, was from a “generation that grew up with Soviet ideas drummed into their heads: that there are no winners in a nuclear war, that escalation inevitably leads to the destruction of humanity, and that peace is the world.

“How can people from this generation believe that nuclear weapons can be used in a limited manner? Well, frankly, for me, it’s another mental and psychological mystery.”

Earlier this month Lavrov warned that nuclear war was possible if the West refused to bow to Putin’s demands for ending the war in Ukraine, demands which would mean a huge loss of Ukrainian territory.

“This state of affairs poses serious threats to global security,” he said.

“A direct confrontation between NATO and Russia could rapidly escalate into an exchange of nuclear strikes, with catastrophic consequences.”

Read More: NATO fighter jets scrambled as Russian nuclear bombers spotted off UK coast