Japan Ramps Up Patrols After Russian Warships Continue To 'Show Off' Around Its Coast

Russia may have been using much of its military muscle on Ukraine, but Kremlin's tentacles still extend to the far east, as witnessed by how its warships were spotted off the Japanese coast earlier the week.

The situation has forced Tokyo to ramp up reconnaissance patrols in the region, reported South China Morning Post.

According to the Japanese defense ministry, six Russian naval vessels passed through a strait between the country's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido and Russia's Sakhalin island around Sunday midnight. Two days before that, a fleet of 10 Russian warships had transited the Tsugaru Strait.

Over the weekend, the Russian Navy also conducted exercises, sending surface-to-air missiles to Etorofu, one of four disputed islands controlled by Russia and known as the Kurils.

Japan claims these islands are a part of its Northern Territories, and insists Russia return at least two of the four islands. However, Kremlin hasn't responded to it, while it keeps militarizing the territory. As for Tsugaru Strait, it connects the Sea of Japan to the Pacific Ocean but is considered international waters open to foreign ships.

Local Japanese media quoted Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi who said the fleet movement was believed to be part of Russia’s ongoing major naval exercises in the region since last month.

"It is concerning that the Russian military is stepping up operations around Japan while Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues," Kishi was quoted by Nippon.com

Kishi added that Japan "will keep a close watch with a sense of tension." Tokyo has also expressed its concern through diplomatic channels as it was given no advance warning of the drill.

He alleged the move was "apparently to show off its naval capability spanning from the East to the West, in unison with the Russian military moves in and around Ukraine."

Russia's display of military might in the region comes amid Japan joining the Western countries in imposing sanctions on Moscow. Russia, instead, reacted by making the disputed Kurils a tax-free zone, a move that has angered the Japanese.

In such a context, military watchers too think the recent Russian military activities were "no coincidence." "The Russian side sees the need to retaliate and while they do not have many ways that they can retaliate in terms of economic sanctions, they do have military instruments," James Brown, an associate professor at Temple University, who specializes in Russia’s relations with its Far East neighbors, told South China Morning Post.

He added that the recent intrusion of a Russian helicopter into the Japanese airspace off Hokkaido was clearly "saber-rattling." "These moves are also part of a broader aim by Russia to show that while it has made a significant commitment in forces to Ukraine, that does not mean it is weak elsewhere and it retains the ability to operate in the Far East," he added.