[3rd Report] Russian Bomber Violates KADIZ Near Dokdo for About 20 Minutes

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Two Russian Air Force Tupolev (Tu)-95MS strategic bombers illegally intruded into the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) on the 19th.

On the 20th, a military official stated, "The Russian bombers intruded into the KADIZ near Dokdo for about 20 minutes starting around 11:50 a.m. that day. In response, our Air Force scrambled F-15K and F-16 fighters to intercept and conducted warning broadcasts toward the Russian military aircraft."

The previous day, the Russian Ministry of Defense Public Affairs Office announced that two of its bombers conducted routine flights over international waters in the East Sea and the northwest Pacific. The office said the total flight time of the bombers exceeded seven hours, and during some flight segments, Japanese Air Self-Defense Force fighters conducted patrol flights against the Russian bombers.

The Public Affairs Office emphasized, "Pilots belonging to the Russian Long-Range Aviation regularly fly over international waters in the Arctic, North Atlantic, Black Sea, Baltic Sea, and Pacific. All flights by Russian Aerospace Forces military aircraft strictly comply with international law regulations regarding airspace usage."

Some analysts interpret this as a countermeasure to the six U.S. bombers that flew near the Korean Peninsula on the 17th. The simultaneous deployment of six U.S. bombers during the ROK-U.S. joint exercises was highly unusual and is seen as sending a strong warning message to North Korea and China.

Last July, ahead of the ROK-U.S. joint exercises, Russia and China also illegally entered the KADIZ over the East Sea with five military aircraft, including Chinese H-6 bombers, Russian TU-95 bombers, and A-50 early warning control aircraft. During this incident, one Russian A-50 intruded into Korean airspace near Dokdo twice for a total of seven minutes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.