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Two Russian bombers, Tupolev Tu-95MS, approach Japan during Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to Ukraine. Photo/TASS
MOSCOW – Ministry of Defense Russia say two bomber plane the country’s strategy is flying over the Sea Japan for more than seven hours. The statement was released when the Prime Minister (PM) of Japan, Fumio Kishida, started a visit to Ukraine.
Russia said two strategic bombers, Tupolev Tu-95MS, were carrying out “planned flights”, escorted by fighters.
“(The flight) was carried out in strict compliance with international law and was carried out in neutral waters,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said as quoted by Channel News Asia, Tuesday (21/3/2023).
The two Russian strategic bombers are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and Moscow regularly flies them over international waters in the Arctic, North Atlantic and Pacific as a show of force.
In February, North American air defense forces were dispatched to intercept several Russian strategic bombers and fighter jets as they flew in international airspace near Alaska.
The timing of the latest flight appears to be more precise than usual, as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is due in Kiev later on a visit to show solidarity with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the war against Russia.
Japanese news agency NHK showed Kishida boarding a train in the Polish town of Przemysl near the Ukrainian border.
Japan, which has had its own territorial dispute with Moscow over islands in the north Pacific since the end of World War Two, is a major US ally in Asia and a member of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies, and has joined Western sanctions against Russia.
The Japanese PM’s visit comes a day after Chinese leader Xi Jinping met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
(ian)
