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Japan's new prime minister accuses China, Russia of 'violations of airspace'

Shigeru Ishiba voiced his belief that Japan is currently facing the most challenging security situation since the end of World War II

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba

© AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

TOKYO, October 4. /TASS/. Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba accused China and Russia of "a series of violations" of the country’s airspace during his first keynote speech in parliament.

"There has been a series of airspace violations by China and Russia. That is a serious violation of our country's sovereignty," he stated. Ishiba voiced his belief that Japan is currently facing the most challenging security situation since the end of World War II.

F-35 fighter jets were scrambled on September 23 after a Russian Il-38 aircraft had been spotted near Hokkaido, the Japanese Defense Ministry claims, arguing that the plane allegedly entered Japanese airspace three times between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. local time (4 a.m. and 6 a.m. GMT), each time spending approximately one minute inside it. In addition, Japanese F-35s used IR emitting flares for the first time. In this regard, Japan's authorities voiced a protest to Russia, which was rejected, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated. She stressed that the Russian side had no information confirming the validity of the demarche. The Russian Defense Ministry stated earlier that the country’s military aircraft perform flights in strict compliance with international rules of the use of airspace.

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