South Korean warplanes fired hundreds of warning shots at a Russian military aircraft that entered South Korean airspace on Tuesday, defense officials said, while Russia denied violating any airspace and accused South Korean pilots of being reckless.
RUSSIA DENIED THE CLAIMS
It was the first time a Russian military aircraft had violated South Korean airspace, an official at the South Korean Ministry of National Defence said in Seoul.
A separate Russian early warning and control aircraft later twice violated South Korean airspace over Dokdo – an island that is occupied by South Korea and also claimed by Japan, which calls it Takeshima – just after 9 a.m. (midnight GMT Monday), according to the South Korean military.
Russia’s defense ministry denied that its strategic bombers had violated South Korean airspace, the RIA news agency reported.
South Korean military planes crossed the path of Russian bombers and did not communicate with them, Russia’s defense ministry said, according to RIA.