Tokyo. June 22. INTERFAX - Japan's Self-Defense Forces tracked five Russian Navy ships that entered the Sea of Japan after passing through the Tsushima Strait, NHK reports.
According to them, a group of five Russian ships passed through the Tsushima Strait on June 21 and entered the Sea of Japan.
Earlier on Sunday, the same five vessels were spotted in the East China Sea after passing through the waters between two islands of Okinawa Prefecture in southwestern Japan.
Last Wednesday, Russian ships passed by Cape Erimo in the northernmost Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido. Then they headed south, into the waters of Chiba Prefecture and towards the Izu Islands.
According to sources in the Ministry of Defense of Japan, it is assumed that the ships participated in large-scale exercises in the Pacific Ocean.
NHK also reports that Japan's self-Defense Forces also recorded three Chinese naval vessels sailing in the waters between the two Izu Islands.
The ships of the PRC separately passed through the Straits of La Perouse and Sangarsky (Tsugaru). Then they sailed south from Chiba Prefecture, as did five Russian vessels.
It is noted that the fleets of the two countries sailed around Japan on similar routes.
