2 Russian Patrol Aircraft Fly along Japan Coast

Tokyo, Sept. 12 (Jiji Press)--Two Tu-142 Russian maritime patrol aircraft flew along Japan's coast on Thursday, prompting the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force to scramble fighter jets in response, Japan's Defense Ministry said.

The Russian aircraft came from airspace over the Sea of Japan and passed through the Tsushima Strait to the East China Sea, according to the ministry's Joint Staff.

The aircraft reached skies over the Pacific after flying between the main island of Okinawa Prefecture and Miyako Island in the southwestern prefecture, before heading north to the sea off the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido.

They then departed for the Eurasia continent via the Northern Territories.

It was the first flight along the coast of Japan by Russian military aircraft since June 2019, when two Russian bombers entered Japan's airspace twice.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]