Japan protests airspace violation by Russia
The Japanese government has protested a violation of its airspace over the Sea of Japan by Russian bombers, the Japanese news agency NHK reports.
“We cannot allow such actions in our territory,” the country said in a statement delivered through diplomatic channels to Russia and South Korea.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga objected to both Russia’s airspace violation and the warning shots fired by South Korea.
“In light of Japan’s stance on sovereignty over Takeshima, the warning shots fired by the South Korean aircraft are completely unacceptable and extremely deplorable. We have voiced strong protest to the South Korean government and demanded that it prevent any similar incidents,” Suga remarked.
On Tuesday morning, the South Korean military reported that Russian bombers had violated the airspace over the Sea of Japan on two occasions. South Korea warned the aircraft to leave, and then fired signal missiles and a total of 360 warning shots.
The incident took place over a disputed island which South Korea calls Dokdo and Japan calls Takeshima.
Russia’s Defense Ministry denied that it had violated the airspace or that warning shots had been fired. Russia claimed that the Tu-95MS aircraft did not deviate from its planned route, and that the South Korean fighters “undertook unprofessional maneuvers”.