Moscow [Russia], September 13: Japan's Self-Defense Forces have scrambled fighter jets to monitor two Russian patrol planes that circled Japan but did not violate its airspace.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense announced that from the morning to the afternoon of September 12, two Russian Tu-142 patrol aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea towards the Okinawa region, southern Japan.
The planes then flew north across the Pacific Ocean to end their journey off the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido .
The planes also flew over an area where there is a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia , a Japanese Defense Ministry official told AFP.
The last time Russian military aircraft circled Japan was in 2019. But then, Russian bombers violated Japanese airspace, while this time they did not, the official said.
"In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense Force fighters on an emergency basis," Japan's Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Russia has not immediately commented on the above information.
Earlier this week, Russian and Chinese warships began joint exercises in waters near Japan.
The operation is part of a major naval exercise called Ocean 2024 that Russian President Vladimir Putin described as the largest in three decades.
According to Russian media, the Ocean 2024 strategic naval exercise will take place from September 10 to 16 in the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Baltic Sea. More than 400 warships, submarines and support vessels, over 120 aircraft and helicopters, approximately 7,000 weapons and over 90,000 servicemen will participate in the exercise, according to TASS.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper