The Republic of Korea’s Air Force fired warning shots after Russian military aircraft allegedly violated the country’s airspace twice on Tuesday, Yonhap news agency reports, citing officers from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
South Korean F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets were scrambled after two Chinese and three Russian aircraft approached the ROK air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the Sea of Japan on Tuesday morning.
The Russian Defense Ministry accused South Korean pilots of acting “unprofessionally” while dangerously crossing the path of Russian bombers, which were on a routine mission over “international waters.”
Two Russian Air Force Tu-95MS bombers were flying over the Sea of Japan when they encountered a pair of South Korean F-15 and F-16 fighter jets.
While the Chinese only entered KADIZ, one of the Russian aircraft allegedly flew too close to the islets of Dokdo and actually breached the S. Korean airspace twice for about three minutes, forcing the South Korean forces to fire “warning shots.”
Moscow also denied reports that “warning shots” were fired at the Tu-95’s. If that was the case and the Russian pilots considered themselves in danger, there would have been “an answer” to that.
Seoul said it plans to launch an official note of protest over the ‘unprecedented’ incident, explaining that this was the first time a Russian military aircraft has ‘invaded’ Korean airspace. The report did not mention the exact types of planes involved in the incident.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff committee claimed their jets were scrambled to intercept the intruding Russian aircraft which violated South Korean airspace twice.
Moscow insists the encounter took place over 25 km from the isles of Dokdo (known as Takeshima in Japan), and that they recorded no violation of aerial borders by Russian planes.
RT. com / ABC Flash Point News 2019.
