Russia puts its air defense systems into a state of high readiness following North Korea’s missile launch
The air-defense systems in the Far East region of Russia have been placed into a state of high readiness following North Korea’s missile launch. While Russia understands that it is not the target of the launch, it must protect itself from possible incidents, stated the Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of the Russian Federation Council, Victor Ozerov, RIA Novosti news agency reports.
On Sunday, North Korea fired a missile from its launch site near its border with China, in the region of Kusong, north-west of its capital Pyongyang. The missile flew for 30 minutes reaching a range of 800 kilometers and the altitude of 2000 kilometers. It fell into the Sea of Japan 450 kilometers east of the Korean peninsula, allegedly outside the Japanese economic zone. The reported altitude of the missile suggests that it was launched at a high trajectory.
"We understand that the territory of Russia is neither the target of the possible attack nor the possible site of the accidental landing of the missile. But to protect ourselves from possible incidents, we keep our air defense systems in the Far East in a high-readiness state," Ozerov said.
Commenting on Washington’s response to the North Korean missile launch, Ozerov noted that Russia is capable of analyzing external threats on its own, while the joint exercises of the United States and South Korea near the North Korea’s borders do not help to resolve the situation around the North Korea’s missile program.
Earlier, Reuters reported citing an unnamed US Official that the missile landed 97 km (60 miles) south of Russia's Vladivostok region.
The White House stated that the latest missile launch by the DPRK would not “please Russia” because it was carried out near its border.
"Russia has learned long time ago to analyze the international environment and threats to its security. And the military exercises of the US and South Korea conducted near the borders of North Korea do not give Pyongyang incentive to give up its missile launches," Ozerov stated.