Japan says scrambled jets after Russian intrusion into airspace

Two Russian fighter jets briefly entered Japan's air space near the northern island of Hokkaido on Thursday, prompting Japan to scramble combat fighters and lodge a protest, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.   

However, the Russian Defense Ministry denied the news.

The alleged intrusion came on Japan's "Northern Territories Day", when rallies are traditionally held calling for the return of disputed islands off Hokkaido.

Earlier, the Japanese Prime Minister said that he wants to resolve a long running dispute over a chain of islands captured by Russia in 1945 but which Japan still claims it as its own.

Known in Russia as the Southern Kurils and in Japan as the Northern Territories, the dispute has prevented Moscow and Tokyo from signing a peace treaty to formally end their hostilities.

Former residents still hope to return to the islands, and claim that they were forced into exile by Soviet soldiers. At an annual rally in Tokyo of the former residents, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he is determined to bring about a resolution with Russia.

Over 17-thousand Japanese residents were forced out when the Soviet Union took control of the islands - and about 17-thousand residents, nearly all Russians, now live on the islands. More than half of the former residents have died during the 65 years since they left the islands. 


REUTERS/AP