By MATTHEW HICKLEY and DAVID WILLIAMS

Last updated at 11:17 22 August 2007

This is the moment when the growing tension between Britain and Russia became almost tangible.

Bombers approached British airspace at the weekend - and defence chiefs scrambled supersonic Eurofighter Typhoon jets to counteract the potential threat.

The close encounter follows an announcement from Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, that bombers should resume the tactics of the Cold War, when incursions by long-range Soviet bombers

testing UK air defences were a familiar routine.

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Yesterday, the Ministry of Defence released the picture of a Typhoon intercepting the Russian Bear-H bomber as proof of the Russian spy flights.

It is the first time the Typhoon, Britain's most advanced warplane, has been seen in action against a potentially hostile target. The MoD would not specify the number of bombers, although there were thought to be more than one.

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The Russian planes had been detected approaching British airspace on Friday across the North Atlantic, at high altitude. Unlike commercial airliners, they filed no flight plan in advance.

And as ground controllers grew increasingly concerned about their intentions, two Tornado fighters took off from RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire, armed with air-to-air missiles.

But the Russians refused to leave the area and the Tornadoes, running short on fuel, were replaced by a second pair.

Then two of the Typhoons, from XI Squadron at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, were sent up. Eventually,the Russian aircrew turned for home - without crossing the line into UK air space.

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One RAF insider said: "It seems to be largely political - almost a statement of pride by the Russians, or Putin telling us not to take him for granted.

"It's an old, old game which we played for years during the Cold War and now we're playing it.

You can glean a certain amount of information about our defences this way, particularly if some helpful Russian chap stands outside the wire at Leeming or Coningsby and notes what time our aircraft take off.

"Quite how all this really helps the Russians is another matter, but we take it seriously."

The first known incident of this type in recent years was in May, when Russian spy planes flew from their base at Murmansk to watch a Nato naval exercise off the Scottish coast.

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Typhoons recently took over the role of providing Quick Reaction aircraft for the southern half of the UK - including reacting to hijacked airliners trying to mount suicide attacks against British cities.

Jets and pilots are at constant readiness to take off.

Moscow chose the anniversary of "Prague Spring" to warn Czech leaders not to allow the U.S. to deploy their missile defence shield on its soil. Yuri Baluyevsky, Russia's military chief, said yesterday that it would be a "big mistake" if Prague gives the Bush administration's plan the go-ahead.

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The date for what diplomats saw as a "warning" could not have been more symbolic for the Czech leadership and people.

Thirty-nine years ago, thousands of tanks from Warsaw Pact countries entered Prague to overthrow the progressive government of Alexander Dubcek, which Moscow believed posed a threat to the Communist axis.

The warning was seen as an indication of Mr Putin's desire to return to the days of Soviet military might.

The Czech Republic is considering whether to accept a radar station which would form part of a

U.S. missile shield, which Moscow sees as a threat to its security.