The Daily Populous Friday September 13rd, 2024 evening edition
Authored by thestandard.com.hk and submitted by Beratungsmarketing

A Russian Tupolev Tu-142 maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft. (Photo: Britain's Ministry of Defence via AP)

Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said Friday.

From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea towards the southern Okinawa region, according to a defence ministry statement.

They then travelled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added.

The planes did not enter Japanese airspace but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official told AFP on Friday.

"In response, we mobilised Air Self-Defence Force fighter jets on an emergency basis," the statement said.

The last time Russian military aircraft circled Japan was in 2019, the official said, but that incident involved bombers that did enter the nation's airspace.

Earlier this week, Russian and Chinese warships began joint drills 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 ramped up military cooperation in recent years, with both railing against what they see as the US domination of global affairs.

They declared a "no limits" partnership shortly before Moscow launched its offensive in Ukraine in 2022.

Japan also scrambled fighter jets in late August when a Chinese military aircraft "violated" its airspace, according to the defence ministry.

The two-minute incursion into Japanese airspace by the Y-9 surveillance aircraft was the first ever by a Chinese military plane, local media reported at the time.

Since the start of the Ukraine conflict, relations have deteriorated sharply between Japan and Russia, which both claim the Kuril Islands -- known in Japan as the Northern Territories.

The Soviet Union seized the strategically located volcanic archipelago north of Hokkaido in the final days of World War II, and has maintained a military presence there ever since.

zeno0771 on September 13rd, 2024 at 13:37 UTC »

They didn't actually enter mutually-recognized Japanese airspace, although TIL the Kuril Islands are disputed territory despite the fact that Russia has been there for damn near a century.

This sounds like Russia taking lessons from China RE the Spratlys, Paracels, etc. where China's strategy is "What are ya gonna do about it?" At the very least, it's Russian posturing to test regional boundaries and very expensive propaganda to make it look like Moscow still has everything under control. They did the same thing over Alaska not too long ago and even Putin isn't deluded enough to risk WWIII over that.

Yelesa on September 13rd, 2024 at 12:43 UTC »

Submission Statement?

mskyfire on September 13rd, 2024 at 10:53 UTC »

Be careful pissing off literally anyone, someday the chickens will be coming home to roost