Japan says ‘closely monitoring’ naval drills by Russia and China
The Japanese Defense Ministry on Monday said six Russian and Chinese naval vessels launched machine gun fire into the Sea of Japan.
The Japanese Defense Ministry on Monday said six Russian and Chinese naval vessels launched machine gun fire into the Sea of Japan.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the ministry was monitoring it closely.
Matsuno told reporters that Japan would take all possible measures to conduct warning and surveillance activities in the waters surrounding Japan.
The Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force said the machine guns were fired in sequence outside of Japan’s economic zone, around 190 kilometres west of Cape Kamui in Hokkaido Prefecture.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Vostok 2022 (East 2022) exercise will be held until Sept. 7 at seven firing ranges in Russia’s Far East and the Sea of Japan and involve more than 50,000 troops and over 5,000 weapons units, including 140 aircraft and 60 warships.
Beijing sent more than 2,000 troops along with more than 300 military vehicles, 21 combat aircraft and three warships to take part in the drills, Chinese news reports said.
The maneuvers are intended to demonstrate that Moscow has sufficient military might for massive drills, even as its troops are engaged in the conflict in Ukraine.
