The Japanese Ministry of Defense has dispatched fighter jets after a Russian Tu-142 aircraft was detected near an archipelago close to Okinawa.
The Russian aircraft flew from the waters between Japan and South Korea towards Okinawa from Thursday morning until the afternoon, then continued its journey north over the Pacific Ocean before concluding its flight off Hokkaido’s northern coast. Although the plane did not enter Japanese airspace, it flew over a region that is part of a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia.
In response to the aircraft’s presence, Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force was mobilized for emergency action. This incident marks a rare occurrence of Russian military activity in the region; the last notable event was in 2019 when Russian bombers did enter Japanese airspace.
Earlier this week, Russian and Chinese warships conducted joint exercises in the Sea of Japan, part of a significant naval operation that Russian President Vladimir Putin described as the largest in thirty years. The joint drills reflect growing military cooperation between Russia and China, who have both criticized U.S. global dominance.
Japan’s strained relations with Russia have worsened since the onset of the Ukraine conflict. Both nations contest sovereignty over the Kuril Islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan. The Soviet Union seized these strategically located islands in the final days of World War II, and Russia has maintained a military presence there ever since.
In a related incident, Japan also deployed fighter jets in late August after a Chinese Y-9 surveillance aircraft briefly breached its airspace—a first-time event for a Chinese military plane.
