Russian planes fly over the disputed area between Russia and Japan, Tokyo raises its fighters to intercept it
Japan scrambled fighter jets after a Russian plane flew over the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said on Friday.
From morning to afternoon Thursday, Russian Tu-142 planes flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea to the southern Okinawa region, according to a Defense Ministry statement.
They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and ended their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, the Defense Ministry added.
The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area that is the subject of a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said on Friday.
“In response, we have mobilized Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets on a contingency basis,” the statement said.
The last time Russian military planes flew over Japan was in 2019, the official said, but that incident involved bombers entering the country's airspace.
Earlier this week, Russian and Chinese warships began joint exercises in the Sea of Japan.
The drills are part of a major naval exercise that Russian President Vladimir Putin has described as the largest of its kind in three decades.
Russia and China have stepped up military cooperation in recent years, both railing against what they see as U.S. dominance of global affairs.
They declared an “unlimited” partnership shortly before Moscow launched its offensive in Ukraine in 2022.
According to the Defense Ministry, Japan also scrambled fighter jets in late August when a Chinese military plane "violated" its airspace.
The two-minute incursion into Japanese airspace by the Y-9 surveillance plane was the first ever by a Chinese military aircraft, local media reported at the time.
Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, relations have sharply deteriorated between Japan and Russia, both of which lay claim to the Kuril Islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories. Presumably the overflight took place in that area.
The Soviet Union seized the volcanic archipelago, strategically located north of Hokkaido, in the final days of World War II and has maintained a military presence there ever since.
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The article Russian planes fly over the disputed area between Russia and Japan, Tokyo raises its fighters to intercept it comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/aerei-russi-sorvolano-area-contesa-fra-russia-e-giappone-tokio-fa-levare-i-caccia-per-intercettarlo/ on Fri, 13 Sep 2024 09:00:28 +0000.