Russian Planes Buzz US-Japanese War Games

(Tokyo, Japan) According to a spokesman for Russia's Pacific Ocean Fleet, Roman Martov, Russian warplanes buzzed the U.S.-Japanese military drills held this week in the Sea of Japan.

"They carried out their planned flights in the region of regular activity of (Russia's) fleet".

"There were no violations of international rules of the use of airspace or flight rules on the Russian side," Martov said.

He said Ilyushin-38 airplanes, a maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft, had made the flights.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku confirmed that the Russian planes had entered the airspace on Monday but did not give details.

The Russsians were just nosing around to collect intelligence, I figure. Not a big deal.