Japan has heightened military surveillance after detecting Russian tests of submarine-launched missiles in the Sea of Japan. The tests take place just as Japan and the US announced joint naval exercises in the same location.
Japan Times reported that Russia fired two Kalibr cruise missiles from its diesel-powered submarines on Thursday as part of "high-profile military exercises in the region since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine".
The Kalibr missile can hit targets 2,000 kms away.
Reacting to the Russian exercises, Japanese Defence Minister Nobua Kishi expressed concern: "In recent years, Russian military activities, including the deployment of state-of-the-art equipment and training exercises, have tended to increase in the vicinity of Japan. We will continue to collect information and conduct vigilant monitoring with a sense of concern".
🇷🇺 Подводные лодки Тихоокеанского флота провели пуски крылатых ракет «Калибр» по кораблям условного противника ➡ https://t.co/GyD7Lo5VdX pic.twitter.com/ugF64dgEoK
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) April 14, 2022
The Russian Defence Ministry announced on Thursday that submarines from its Pacific Fleet had launched cruise missiles, the same weapons being used in Ukraine, from submerged positions in the Sea of Japan, successfully hitting a mock target. It added that more than 15 warships and naval aircraft, had taken part in the exercise.
Not all is well between Russia and Japan lately.
Last month Tokyo and Moscow clashed over the Kuril Islands, called Northern Territories by Japan, after Russia conducted military drills with thousands of troops and military equipment. The Kuril islands are a group of four islands that join the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia to Japan’s main island of Hokkaido. The two countries have been in dispute over the islands since World War II.
Tokyo has reacted with full force of sanctions against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Japanese companies have stopped their exports to Russia and are in complete solidarity with the US and Europe in levying sanctions. The country is also providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine and settling Ukrainian refugees who have escaped to neighbouring countries.
Russia has expressed its displeasure over Japanese activities related to the Ukraine invasion.
Japan has been worried as Russia and China held joint naval exercises in the Sea of Japan in October last year. Following the exercises, naval vessels from China and Russia sailed from the Sea of Japan through the narrow Tsugaru Strait into the Pacific Ocean, upsetting a watchful Tokyo with their growing proximity.
