Tokyo, Oct 27 (EFE).- Japan’s Defense Ministry said Monday its air force scrambled fighter jets Saturday in response to a Russian intelligence-gathering aircraft flying over the Sea of Japan, marking the second such incident in less than a week.
The Joint Staff of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces said in a press release that it “confirmed that a Russian intelligence-collection aircraft (IL-20) had flown over the Sea of Japan and we responded by dispatching fighter aircraft from the Northern Air Defense Force and other units.” They noted the event occurred Saturday, though details were limited.
The ministry clarified the activity followed a prior scramble of Japanese aircraft Friday to intercept and monitor a Russian formation including Tu-95 strategic bombers — a type capable of carrying nuclear weapons, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi had reported.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said the flight Friday was over “neutral waters” of the Sea of Japan and followed a planned route.
Japan and Russia remain at odds over the four Krill Islands — known in Japan as the Northern Territories — located north of Hokkaido. Tokyo says the islands were illegally occupied by Moscow after World War II; Russia counters that the 1945 Treaty of San Francisco does not legally resolve the dispute. EFE
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