OTTAWA – Russian bombers paid Canada a visit hours after Ukraine's president spoke to the House of Commons in Ottawa, QMI Agency has learned.

Two Russian Tupolev bombers got within 100 km of Canadian airspace in the Arctic northwest at about 1:30 a.m. Pacific Time on Thursday morning. They were met by Canadian CF-18 fighter jets, which had scrambled out of Inuvik, N.W.T.

After a period of time, the Russians changed their course and headed home without further incident.

The fly-by of Russian fighter jets right around the time of a visit by the Ukrainian head of state highlighted the growing tensions between the two countries.

Russian bombers often fly near Canada’s airspace and are often shadowed by Canadian or U.S. fighter jets controlled by NORAD.

But it is rare for the Russians to get as close as they did to Canadian airspace on Thursday.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, during his annual trip to the Arctic in August, said that Russia had previously come close to violating Canada’s airspace.

Military experts have also told QMI Agency that Russian President Vladimir Putin would consider trying to embarrass the Harper government with symbolic incursions into Canadian airspace as a show of force in reaction to dozens of sanctions that Canada has imposed on Russian businesses and politicians.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Canada has leveled more economic sanctions against Russia, in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, than any other country.

Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, during his address to Parliament this week, said that Canada was Ukraine’s strongest supporter. Poroshenko showered the Conservative government with many thanks and platitudes for its moral and financial support during Ukraine’s war with Russian-backed separatist militants.