Tokyo, Japan:
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian bombers flew over international waters around the country, Tokyo’s top government spokesman said Friday.
« We confirmed that Russian military bombers and fighter jets flew over the high seas of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan yesterday, and we scrambled Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets » in response, Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.
« It is difficult to say clearly what the purpose of the flight was… but the Russian military has been active on an ongoing basis in areas surrounding Japan, » he said.
Tokyo has raised the issue with Moscow in the past through diplomatic routes, including regarding a Russian fighter jet’s intrusion into territorial airspace in September, which Russia denied according to media reports.
« We will continue to monitor (the situation) closely and do our best to take measures in patrolling and responding to airspace incursions, » Hayashi said.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Telegram Thursday that two long-range bombers flew over international waters in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk.
The Russian ministry also released a video of two Tupolev-95 aircraft escorted by Russian fighter jets conducting what it called a regular flight over more than eight hours.
« All flights by Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft are carried out in strict compliance with international rules on the use of airspace, » it said in a statement.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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