Japan Scrambles Jets As Russian SU-27 Jets Entered Japanese Airspace

There was a little scrambling on the Japanese jet fighters when Russian SU-27 jets entered Japanese airspace off Rishiri Island near the tip of Japan’s northernmost Hokkaido Island, according to the country’s Defense Ministry.

Japan Ministry of Defense posted on its Facebook page that there is a “violation of its airspace by Russia today over the territorial waters, the air self-defense force fighter responded, and carried out an emergency call.”

The Russian jets left Japanese airspace without incident after a little more than a minute, the ministry said. However, Russian officials denied their jets intruded Japanese airspace, the Russian Interfax news agency reported.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday as quoted by RIA Novosti, “The Japanese government will continue to pursue the settlement of the territorial issues with a strong will. We aim to finally resolve the problem with Russia on the disputed islands, which will finally determine the ownership of the islands and realize the signing of a peace treaty.”