Two Russian fighter have violated Japanese airspace near the northern island of Hokkaido, prompting Tokyo to scramble combat fighters and lodge a protest, Japan’s foreign ministry has said. The planes were detected off Hokkaido for just over a minute, according to reports. The alleged intrusion on Thursday came on Japan’s “Northern Territories Day”, when rallies are traditionally held calling for the return of disputed islands off Hokkaido.
It was the first such intrusion in five years, a ministry official said.
Meanwhile, Russia has denied that two of its fighter jets had violated Japanese airspace as claimed by Tokyo. “Flights by the air force of the Pacific Fleet take place regularly in this region, in strict adherence to the international rules, without violation of state borders,” the spokesperson of the military command’s eastern district Roman Martov said in a statement to Russian news agencies on Thursday.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is expected to visit Moscow later this month to discuss territorial matters.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev landed on the remote island chain in July, prompting protests from Tokyo. Medvedev’s trip to the disputed islands in Russia’s Far East – known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia, but as the Northern Territories in Japan, prompted Japan’s ministry of foreign affairs to complain.
