Japan's defense minister said the use of flares was a legitimate response to airspace violation and "we plan to use it without hesitation."

Japanese jet fighters fired warning flares at a Russian military reconnaissance plane that violated Japan’s airspace, the first time Tokyo has taken such an aggressive stance against incursions of its airspace.

Moscow's actions is the first airspace incursion into Japan by a Russian plane since 2019, when a Tu-95 bomber flew over southern Okinawa and the Izu Islands.

The infringements were the first by Russia in five years, according to the Japanese defense ministry. A fighter fired a warning flare in response.

The Russian aircraft intruded three times and ignored radio warnings, prompting flares from Japan’s self defense aircrafts.

Japan scrambled fighter jets after a Russian Il-38 plane entered Japanese airspace on Sept. 23. Japan used flares after the Russian plane ignored earlier warnings, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said.

After a Russian military patrol aircraft violated Japanese airspace, Japan's Self-Defense Force dispatched an aircraft that, for the first time, fired flares in 'an anti-airspace violation action.'

A Russian Il-38 military patrol plane entered Japanese airspace for up to a minute over three instances near the northernmost main island of Hokkaido, above Rebun Island, the defence ministry said. The military scrambled an undisclosed number of F-15 and F-35 fighter jets which fired flares at the Russian aircraft after it apparently ignored their warnings,

Japan said its warplanes used flares to warn a Russian reconnaissance aircraft to leave northern Japanese airspace on Monday. Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told reporters that the Russian Il-38 plane breached Japan’s airspace above Rebun Island,