I'd wager that story is in the media for the benefit of the Russian people, to hammer home the fact that Russia is 'under siege' from the west, etc, etc.
Otherwise it's just business as normal, after all, how many times have we read in our media outlets that a Russian aircraft has been escorted by NATO jets or a Russian submarine was detected x miles off the coast, etc.
Just another day in the decades old game of Cowboys and Cossacks.
