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#4 - JRL 8259 - JRL Home
Flight of Russian strategic bomber to U.S. likely to be cancelled

MOSCOW. June 18 (Interfax) - The planned flight of a Russia Tu-95MS strategic bomber to the United States along Valery Chkalov's route via the North Pole will likely be cancelled, Russian Air Force Commander- in-Chief Gen. Vladimir Mikhailov has announced.

"This stems primarily from the unacceptable conditions put forward by the American side," he told reporters on Friday.

He said that after the September 11 terrorist attacks the United States has strongly tightened regulations on foreign aircraft flying over U.S. territory, especially warplanes.

"For instance, we were told that one of their pilots must be in the crew. That is unacceptable," Mikhailov said.

He said the crew of the Tu-95MS Moskva was fully prepared to fly the route of the famous Russian test pilot, Valery Chkalov.

As part of the celebrations of Chkalov's birth centennial in the U.S. on June 15 to 21, the bomber was supposed to fly from Russia to North America via the North Pole. It was to be refueled in the air over the Arctic Ocean outside the Novaya Zemlya archipelago by an IL-78 air tanker.

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