Following Taiwan’s announcement this week, Japan’s defense ministry said late Friday it had detected two Russian Navy ships in the waters around Taiwan and Okinawa in the preceding four days.
On Tuesday, Taiwan’s defense ministry reported two Russian frigates along its eastern coast and sent aircraft and ships to monitor.
Last month, Japan’s government called recurrent Russian military activities near its borders, including joint drills with China, a “serious concern” for national security.
After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Japan and Taiwan backed the US and its allies in imposing broad sanctions.
The Japanese ministry said two Steregushchy-class frigates were initially detected 70 km (40 miles) southwest of Japan’s westernmost island of Yonaguni, in Okinawa prefecture near Taiwan, on Tuesday morning.
It said two Japanese vessels monitored the Russian ships as they went between Yonaguni and Taiwan, continued east, and were last seen between Miyako and Okinawa islands on Friday.
On Tuesday, Interfax reported that a Russian Pacific Fleet unit had entered the southern Philippine Sea for long-range sea transit activities.
Comment Template