South-Korean aircraft fired at their Russian counterparts, joined by the Chinese
Chinese aircraft joined the Russian, while Japanese also sent their planes up in the air, as the incident took place above Japanese territory
Source: B92, Sputnik
It all started in the morning hours, when South-Korean agencies reported that several Russian aircrafts had violated airspace of that state, and they were warned about it. The incident took place above the East Sea near South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, the subject of a dispute between Seoul and Tokyo.
As South-Korean Ministry of Defense claims, three Russian aircrafts were fired at twice, while total 360 bullets were shot.
Russia issued a statement that their bombers "Tu-95S" hadn't violated foreign airspace while flying above Japanese sea.
Russian Defense Ministry had pointed out that this is not the first time that Korean pilots attempt to prevent the flights of Russian aviation over the neutral territory of Japanese sea, referring to certain arbitrary air defense zone set up by South Korea.
They added that South-Korean planes hadn't fired any warning shots. If they had done that, we would have responded.
„There was no warning whatsoever. If the Russian pilots felt their safety was jeopardized - they would have responded", Defense Ministry claims.
Japan also reacted saying that they lifted up their bombers as the incident between the Russian and South-Korean aircrafts took place above Japanese sea.
Japanese Government lodged formal complaint to Russia and South Korea: "Such incidents above our territory are unacceptable", Japanese Government concluded.
Finally, according to the latest findings, apart from Russian aircraft, Chinese aircraft were also there. It was the first joint air patrol carried out by the Russian and Chinese armies in the Asian-Pacific Region, it is said in a statement of the Russian Defense Ministry. During the mission, aircrafts of both states were acting strictly in accordance with the norms of international law, Russian armed forces reported.
It is alleged that joint patrols were carried out to deepen and develop the Russian-Chinese partnership, to further increase the cooperation of the armed forces of the two states, and the opportunities in joint actions, strengthening global strategic stability.
