US Air Force F-22 stealth fighter jets intercepted two nuclear-capable Russian strategic bombers near Alaska on Saturday, Russia's ministry of defense has confirmed.

The incident, first reported by the Washington Free Beacon, unfolded outside US sovereign airspace as Russia carries out its biggest military drill in modern history.

"Two Alaskan-based NORAD F-22 fighters intercepted and visually identified two Tu-95 'Bear' long-range bomber aircraft flying in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, south of the Aleutian Islands," Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) told the Beacon.