RAF jets were scrambled on Wednesday after two Russian military aircraft were seen off the Cornwall coast, the Ministry of Defence says.
The Russian Bear bombers were escorted from the UK area of interest, but did not enter sovereign airspace, it said.
On the same day, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon warned that Russia's President Putin posed a "real and present danger" to three Baltic states.
He said Nato must be ready for aggression from Russia.
The BBC's political correspondent Ross Hawkins said the appearance of Russian aircraft near the UK coast was a show of strength from the Russians, and such incidents were carried out with political intent because they would be reported on.
Our correspondent said it was part of a trend which had seen Russian aircraft flying close to UK airspace - and there had also been concern about similar incidents in Europe.
According to the Department for Transport, there was no record of disruption to civil aviation as a result of the bombers' presence on Wednesday.
Repeated incidentThe MoD said: "RAF Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon fighter aircraft were launched [on Wednesday] after Russian aircraft were identified flying close to UK airspace.
"The Russian planes were escorted by the RAF until they were out of the UK area of interest. At no time did the Russian military aircraft cross into UK sovereign airspace."
A similar incident occurred in January, when the UK Foreign Office said two Russian Tu-95 Bear H bombers flying near UK airspace had caused "disruption to civil aviation" and were also escorted by RAF jets while near UK airspace.
Speaking to journalists from the Times and Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, Mr Fallon expressed concern over Russian President Vladimir Putin's interference in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and elsewhere around Europe.
"He flew two Russian bombers down the English Channel two weeks ago. We had to scramble jets very quickly to see them off. It's the first time since the height of the Cold War, it's the first time that's happened.
"That just shows you, you need to respond, each time he does something like that, you need to be ready to respond."
Mr Fallon also said the increase in Russian defence spending was "clearly worrying" and that he was also "worried about Putin".
"They are modernising their conventional forces, they are modernising their nuclear forces and they are testing Nato, so we need to respond," the defence secretary added.
AnalysisJonathan Marcus, BBC defence and diplomatic correspondent
The comments from Defence Secretary Michael Fallon are an indication of a fundamental shift in the Nato perception of the crisis in Ukraine.
Nato governments clearly believe that what began as a localised Ukraine problem that strained ties with Moscow has now become a Russia problem, and a Russia problem that is likely to persist for some time.
Ukraine is thus seen as a manifestation of a much broader policy shift on the part of the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Fallon's belief that there is indeed a potential threat to Nato territory - in particular the Baltic Republics - is widely shared; hence Nato's desire to underline in the most emphatic terms that its security guarantees to its members will be honoured in full.
When asked about the prospect of a new Cold War, he said: "It is warming up, you have tanks and armour rolling across the Ukrainian border and you have an Estonian border guard who has been captured and not yet still returned."
He also said Russia was likely to use covert tactics such as those he said it had used to annex Crimea and during the current Ukraine conflict between government and pro-Russian rebel separatists.
Russia has denied helping the separatists, but it has been repeatedly accused of sending weapons and troops and using propaganda to inflame tensions.
A new ceasefire deal for eastern Ukraine was struck in the Belarusian capital Minsk last week.
But in the latest developments, Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin has denounced Ukraine's call for the deployment of UN peacekeepers in eastern Ukraine as a destructive move.
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