Japan dispatches fighter jets to counter Russian aircraft violating its airspace

Minister Kihara told reporters that the Japan Self-Defense Forces responded to the Russian plane's airspace violation by scrambling fighter jets, issuing radio warnings and firing flares.

"Today we confirmed that a Russian Il-38 patrol aircraft violated our airspace three times over our territorial waters north of Rebun Island in Hokkaido Prefecture," Minister Kihara said.

This photo taken on September 23 shows a Russian military aircraft allegedly violating Japanese airspace near Rebun Island in Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture.

Photo: Kyodo News screenshot

"The airspace violation is extremely regrettable and today we have sent a protest note to the Russian government through diplomatic channels and strongly urge them to prevent a recurrence," Kihara added.

Mr Kihara affirmed that this was "the first publicly announced Russian aircraft intrusion since June 2019", when a Russian Tu-95 bomber flew into Japanese airspace south of Okinawa Island and around the Izu Islands south of Tokyo.

Also today, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said that Tokyo would not provide any precise information about the intention and purpose of the above action, but the Russian military has been actively operating in the vicinity of Japan since Moscow launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

There is currently no information about Russia's response to the above accusations from Japan.

Earlier this month, Tokyo also scrambled fighter jets when Russian aircraft flew around Japan for the first time since 2019. Tokyo asserted that the Russian Tu-142 aircraft had not previously flown into Japanese airspace but had flown over an area of territorial dispute between the two countries, according to AFP.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cao-buoc-may-bay-nga-xam-pham-khong-phan-nhat-dieu-chien-dau-co-doi-pho-185240923193709235.htm