Japan’s jet fighters were ordered up in the air on Monday, July 15, as three Russian Air Force planes flew around its airspace.
The Japanese Self-Defence Forces said the Russian planes had not invaded the country’s airspace.

According to the defence ministry, two Tu-95 bombers flew over the Sea of Japan from the direction of the Korean Peninsula, proceeded along the Japanese archipelago and then flew away north of Hokkaido. The other plane, Il-20, flew over the Kuril Islands, prompting Japan to order its interceptor planes up in the air.

The last such incident occurred in April 2013 when two Russian Tu-142 antisubmarine planes flew around Japan off the southwestern coast of Kyushu and the northern Island of Hokkaido. Japanese jet fighters also went airborne back then.