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▼ Japan Scrambles Fighters As Suspected Russian Military Helicopter Enters Hokkaido Airspace
- Category:Event
A helicopter apparently operated by the Russian military violated Japanese airspace near Hokkaido on Wednesday, with the Defense Ministry saying it had scrambled fighter jets in response, as Tokyo watches with concern Moscow’s moves amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The ministry said the helicopter entered Japan’s territorial airspace above the Nemuro Peninsula, on the eastern coast of the nation’s northernmost prefecture.
The ministry did not give an exact location of the flight, but the peninsula is located just kilometers from the closest of four islands northeast of Hokkaido that Russia occupies and Japan claims.
According to the ministry, the Russian military has used exercises in the Sea of Okhotsk and other areas to highlight its capabilities to operate in both the European and Asian theaters simultaneously amid the war in Ukraine.
“Under the current circumstances … Russia’s increased activity in the sea and airspace around Japan is a cause for concern, and we will take all possible measures to monitor it vigilantly,” the ministry said in a statement.
Later Wednesday, the government’s top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, told a news conference that Tokyo had protested the flight to the Russian Embassy, calling it “extremely regrettable.”
On Feb. 15, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said a total of 24 Russian warships had been operating in the Sea of Japan and the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk since the beginning of that month, in part of what he termed “unusual” large-scale military exercises.
In Ukraine on Wednesday fighting entered a seventh day, amid heavy clashes in the country’s second city of Kharkiv and fears of even bloodier battles in the coming days.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Western leaders agreed to unleash a “powerful” economic response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Moscow facing increased isolation but continuing to bombard its neighbor — killing scores and sparking a refugee crisis.
Observers have said Kishida’s announcements of Russian sanctions and tough language – a noted departure from his two immediate predecessors – marks a shift in Japan’s rhetoric and policy toward Moscow, bringing it more in line with the position of its Group of Seven partners.
Tokyo’s policy toward Moscow had been centered on resolving a decadeslong dispute over the four Russian-claimed islands northeast of Hokkaido — a row that has prevented the two countries from signing a post-World War II peace treaty.
The ministry said the helicopter entered Japan’s territorial airspace above the Nemuro Peninsula, on the eastern coast of the nation’s northernmost prefecture.
The ministry did not give an exact location of the flight, but the peninsula is located just kilometers from the closest of four islands northeast of Hokkaido that Russia occupies and Japan claims.
According to the ministry, the Russian military has used exercises in the Sea of Okhotsk and other areas to highlight its capabilities to operate in both the European and Asian theaters simultaneously amid the war in Ukraine.
“Under the current circumstances … Russia’s increased activity in the sea and airspace around Japan is a cause for concern, and we will take all possible measures to monitor it vigilantly,” the ministry said in a statement.
Later Wednesday, the government’s top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, told a news conference that Tokyo had protested the flight to the Russian Embassy, calling it “extremely regrettable.”
On Feb. 15, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said a total of 24 Russian warships had been operating in the Sea of Japan and the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk since the beginning of that month, in part of what he termed “unusual” large-scale military exercises.
In Ukraine on Wednesday fighting entered a seventh day, amid heavy clashes in the country’s second city of Kharkiv and fears of even bloodier battles in the coming days.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Western leaders agreed to unleash a “powerful” economic response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Moscow facing increased isolation but continuing to bombard its neighbor — killing scores and sparking a refugee crisis.
Observers have said Kishida’s announcements of Russian sanctions and tough language – a noted departure from his two immediate predecessors – marks a shift in Japan’s rhetoric and policy toward Moscow, bringing it more in line with the position of its Group of Seven partners.
Tokyo’s policy toward Moscow had been centered on resolving a decadeslong dispute over the four Russian-claimed islands northeast of Hokkaido — a row that has prevented the two countries from signing a post-World War II peace treaty.
- March 2, 2022
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