Russia's air force on Friday resumed permanent bomber patrols over the country for the first time in 15 years, President Vladimir Putin said according to dpa. Putin cited unspecified security risks in announcing the resumption of flights, which Russia stopped after the end of the Cold War. "Combat alert has begun," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying. Fourteen strategic missile carriers, support planes and tankers took off from seven Russian airfields across the country early Friday, Putin said in Russia's Chelyabinsk region, where he attended a military exercise that included Russian and Chinese troops. "Since 1992, the Russian Federation unilaterally stopped flights of its strategic aviation in remote combat areas. Regrettably, not all countries followed suit," Putin said.
