TOKYO, Japan: Japan scrambled its fighter jets on Thursday after Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew around its archipelago for the first time in five years.
The Russian planes flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward Okinawa in southern Japan and then turned north over the Pacific Ocean, ending their journey near Hokkaido.
While the aircraft did not enter Japanese airspace, they flew over an area under territorial dispute between Japan and Russia. The Japanese Defence Ministry responded by mobilizing Air Self-Defence Force fighter jets.
The last time Russian military planes circled Japan was in 2019, involving bombers that entered Japanese airspace. This recent incident coincides with joint Russian-Chinese naval drills in the Sea of Japan, described by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the largest naval exercise in three decades.
Russia and China have increased military cooperation, opposing perceived U.S. global dominance and forming a “no limits” partnership before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Tensions between Japan and Russia have also escalated, especially over the Kuril Islands, seized by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II and still claimed by both nations.
