Russian hypersonic jets buzz Japan’s coast in ‘thinly veiled threat’

The video shows a MiG-31 with a Kinzhal missile slung beneath its fuselage, with the ministry saying the aircraft was one of several that carried out manoeuvres off Japan’s northern coast. Additional footage shows an aircraft carrying out mid-air refuelling.

The ministry said the flights were carried out according to international law, which was understood to mean that none of the aircraft entered Japanese airspace.

Analysts note that it is unusual for Moscow to highlight its forces’ activities. Tokyo will also not have missed that the Kinzhal can fly at 10 times the speed of sound, has a range exceeding 2,000km and can carry conventional or nuclear warheads.

“We have to put this in the context of Russia being frustrated with Japan for supporting the international sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine and, in addition to that, what Moscow sees as Japan building up its military again and getting more and more powerful capabilities,” said James Brown, a professor of international relations specialising in Russian affairs at the Tokyo campus of Temple University.

According to Brown, Moscow has said it wants to prevent Japan from returning to the military expansionist policies of the 1930s, and remains fiercely opposed to Tokyo revoking the three non-nuclear principles that have guided its defence policy since the end of World War II.