In a rare move, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) scrambled F-15 and F-35 fighter jets from the Northern Air Defense Forces to intercept a Russian IL-38 patrol aircraft that violated Japanese airspace.

A Russian military patrol aircraft violated Japanese airspace near Hokkaido's Rebun Island on three separate occasions on Monday, prompting Japan's Self-Defense Force to dispatch aircraft in an emergency response and to fire flares.

Japanese fighter jets fired warnings flares against a Russian military aircraft that Tokyo said repeatedly entered the country’s territorial airspace, in an unprecedented move against a foreign plane.