The two Russian bombers, model Tu-22M3, were discovered at 10 a.m. on Monday by the Swedish air defense. They were escorted by Russian fighter jets.

"We identified the planes northeast of Gotland and followed them along the island," Lieutenant Colonel Robert Krznaric, the Air Force's chief of operations, told Expressen.

The planes are said to have entered via the Gulf of Finland, passed between Sweden and the Baltic states, continued south to Bornholm, and then turned back to Russia.

According to the Air Force, which did not want to say where the planes took off from, the flights were intended to show presence and to indicate that Swedish airspace was not violated.