Chinese Y-20 planes seen at Russian airport on same day as patrol near Alaska

The report argued that the Chinese bombers, with a range of about 6,000km (3,728 miles), could not make round trips from China to the Bering Sea, and thus was likely to have taken off from a nearby Russian airport.

“Therefore, it is very likely that the H-6K was deployed from a base in Russia in order to reach the Arctic,” the report stated.

The centre observed Russian airfields with a high-resolution optical satellite and they confirmed that two large Y-20 transport aircraft of the Chinese air force were deployed at the Anadyr airfield.

“They are believed to have come to support the H-6K,” the report said.

Fu Qianshao, a mainland analyst, said the Y-20 could also provide support for other warplanes in their long-distance operations.

In November 2022, the Y-20U tanker joined patrols with the H-6K and J-16 fighters in a China-Russia joint patrol.

Exactly how the Chinese H-6Ks went beyond their range to approach Alaska in the most recent patrol is still unknown.

Zhang Xuefeng, a mainland military analyst, was quoted in an article in the state-owned Global Times last month as saying July’s patrol marked “the farthest distance that a Chinese bomber has ever carried out a strategic cruise mission from mainland China”.

Zhang also said it was “very likely” that the Chinese bombers took off from Russia.

There has been no public information about recent deployment of the Y-20 from a Russian airfield.

Both countries confirmed the joint patrol without giving details about their routes.

Chinese defence ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said at a regular briefing last week that it was the eighth strategic patrol conducted by the two countries.

The Chinese and Russian bombers were detected and intercepted off the coast of Alaska by the North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) on July 24.

It was the first report of a Chinese H-6 flying into the ADIZ – an international airspace that acts as a buffer zone around sovereign territory. The ready identification of all aircraft is required within the ADIZ.

A rough map released by a pro-Kremlin blogger, the Rybar military channel on Telegram, also suggested the bombers from the two countries took off together from Anadyr airfield, Newsweek reported on Tuesday.

If so, it would mark the first time assets from both air forces have shared a base of operations, the report said.

China and Russia continued to strengthen their military cooperation with regular joint patrols and exercises.

Also last month, multiple Chinese military warships were spotted off the coast of Alaska, the US Coast Guard announced.