Japan's defense minister said the use of flares was a legitimate response to airspace violation and "we plan to use it without hesitation."

After a Russian military patrol aircraft violated Japanese airspace, Japan's Self-Defense Force dispatched an aircraft that, for the first time, fired flares in 'an anti-airspace violation action.'

A Russian Il-38 military patrol plane entered Japanese airspace for up to a minute over three instances near the northernmost main island of Hokkaido, above Rebun Island, the defence ministry said. The military scrambled an undisclosed number of F-15 and F-35 fighter jets which fired flares at the Russian aircraft after it apparently ignored their warnings,

Japan said its warplanes used flares to warn a Russian reconnaissance aircraft to leave northern Japanese airspace on Monday. Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told reporters that the Russian Il-38 plane breached Japan’s airspace above Rebun Island,

Moscow's actions is the first airspace incursion into Japan by a Russian plane since 2019, when a Tu-95 bomber flew over southern Okinawa and the Izu Islands.

For the first time in 60 years, Japanese fighter jets fired warning flares at a Russian reconnaissance aircraft that violated Japanese airspace, reports The Wall Street Journal. On Monday, the Russian Ilyushin Il-38 reconnaissance aircraft violated it three times.