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MOSCOW (BNS): Russia has carried out a series of efficiency drills for Tu-95MS Bear strategic bombers, an Air Force spokesman has said.

Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik said the flights were conducted in poor weather conditions over the Arctic from air bases in Engels in the Volga region and Ryazan located in central Russia.

"During three-day exercises, Tu-95MS Bear strategic bombers and Il-78 aerial tankers practiced various types of flight drills, including in-flight refueling," Ria Novosti quoted him as saying.

Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans in August 2007, following an order from then-President Vladimir Putin, the agency report said.