Japan fires at Russian jets ; Russian aircrafts were intercepted by Japanese fighter jets firing warning flares, Tokyo officials reported – escalating fears of violence across the globe.
In an urgent media briefing today, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi announced that Russian planes trespassed into Japanese airspace near Rebun Island in Hokkaido three times from 1pm to 3pm local time
He described the event as “deeply regrettable” and confirmed Japan has made a strong protest. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force scrambled jets which issued warnings using flares.
Tensions between Russia and Japan have escalated since the onset of the Ukraine conflict initiated by Vladimir Putin.
Economic sanctions have led to a significant drop in trade, with Japanese car exports to Russia plummeting by 45 percent and coal imports from Russia decreasing by 67 per cent, as per Responsible Statecraft. Japan fires at Russian jets
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated in February 2024 that Japan is “remains fully committed” to resolving the issue over the contested islands, referred to in Japan as the Northern Territories.Related video: Japan Warns Russia Over Violating Airspace (WION)
Russian President Dmitry Mevedev bluntly dismissed concerns on X: “We don’t give a damn about the ‘feelings of the Japanese’ concerning the so-called ‘Northern territories.” He asserted: “They’re not ‘disputed territories,’ but Russia.”
This is not the first instance of Russian military aircraft breaching the airspace of a democratic nation; in June this year, Swedish jets intercepted a Russian plane in their airspace above the Baltic island of Gotland.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom slammed an airspace violation as “unacceptable”. In a subsequent incident in September, a Russian UAV intruded into Romanian territory, another member of NATO.
It is alleged that the drone was involved in an offensive strike by Moscow against Ukraine. Just hours prior to that, a similar Russian UAV was said to have crashed near Rezekne, in Latvia.
Latvia’s Defence Minister Andris Spruds expressed the belief that this drone likely originated from neighbouring Belarus, one of Putin’s scant regional allies.
