Both photos in the article are stock images from the Russian air force. There were probably no photos from the actual intercept under discussion, so the article writers pulled some from the web to illustrate the aircraft involved. That's pretty standard, especially in aviation journalism.
Also these sorts of intercepts have been going on since the Cold War. Every so often we fly a bomber by their territorial waters, and they fly one near ours.
A few days ago a US B-52 was intercepted by Russian fighters near Lithuania. The US bomber was there on exercise. I'd guess this exercise by the Russians was just a tit-for-tat response.
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