Two Russian strategic bomber planes flew over the Sea of Japan for more than seven hours, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday in a statement released as Japan’s prime minister was beginning a visit to Ukraine.
The Tupolev Tu-95MS planes are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and Moscow regularly flies them over international waters in the Arctic, North Atlantic and Pacific as a show of strength.
The timing of the latest flight appeared more pointed than usual, as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was due in Kyiv later on a visit to show solidarity with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the war against Russia.
Japanese national broadcaster NHK showed Kishida boarding a train at the Polish town of Przemysl near the Ukraine border.—Reuters
