Canadian warplanes intercepted two long-range Russian bombers that tried to intrude into Canadian airspace, the defence ministry confirmed Saturday.

The Tupolev-95 planes made several attempts to breach Canadian airspace Friday but were repelled by CF-18 jets, the ministry said.

Russian sources quoted in the Canadian media said the bombers were on a regular training flight and did not infringe Canada's airspace.

The incident occurred 500 km north of Goose Bay in the east of Labrador where the Canadian air force has a large base.

The Tupolev-95 bombers have a range of more than 14,000 km and are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

The bombers have breached the airspace of Britain, Iceland, Japan, Canada and other countries in recent years.

Canada and Russia both claim a large chunk of the Arctic seabed believed to hold huge reserves of oil and gas.

Moscow has said in the past that it would not shy from using military force to defend its interests.