Russia dispatched two Tu-95 nuclear-capable strategic bombers to the Sea of Japan on Tuesday, in yet another provocative exchange between Moscow and Washington using the military threat expedient.
The huge aircraft were escorted by Su-30 fighter jets and flew for seven hours in neutral waters. As they entered South Korea’s Air Defense Identification Zone, which is not official airspace but serves as a point of reference for countries as a line of protection, F-16 fighter jets from Seoul were sent to accompany the patrol.
This type of action is usual and occurs over international waters of seas such as the Black and Baltic on a weekly basis. But the Russian patrol comes during the biggest annual exercise between US and South Korean forces since before the pandemic.
Started on Monday (22) and scheduled to last until the beginning of September, the Ulchi Freedom Shield maneuver includes attack and defense simulations, involving land and naval air forces. The US has its largest contingent abroad in the country, 28,500 military personnel.
The reinforced exercise in turn sends a signal to North Korea, which has been testing a number of missiles this year. Split since the 1953 ceasefire between the communist and capitalist halves of the peninsula, the Koreas live in a precarious balance of forces, with nuclear threats from Pyongyang on the menu for regime maintenance.
Russia supports the local communist dictatorship. Last week, President Vladimir Putin even announced an increase in the relationship between the countries. North Korea also has China, Moscow’s main ally, a supporter.
Thus, the exchange of animosities fits into the context of Cold War 2.0 between US and China as well. In February, before the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Putin officially joined Xi Jinping’s side in the global geopolitical confrontation against Washington.
This immediately led to the powers’ particular conflicts being seen as part of a whole, with President Joe Biden and his Indo-Pacific allies warning Xi that his pretensions to take Taiwan should not be exacerbated by Putin’s action in Ukraine.
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to the island has only complicated the situation, with Beijing setting up a near-permanent regime of military exercises simulating a blockade and invasion of Taiwan. In turn, taking advantage of the instability, North Korea has stepped up its missile tests to try to get the Americans to return to a frozen negotiation over its nuclear status.
Japan, in turn, has assumed an increasingly militaristic character in the face of what it perceives as a Chinese threat supported by the Russians — the Tu-95 flight has that effect, by the way. These interests have conspired to increase tensions in the East, which will continue to rise with major military exercises involving Russia and China next week, as Cold War 2.0 remains hot in Europe.
Interception cases on the rise
Air Defense About 20 countries such as USA, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea have Air Defense Identification Zones
Which is?
Range beyond the country’s airspace where foreign planes are required to identify themselves
Because?
These are zones in regions that can potentially be invaded by enemies, such as routes to targets
What happens?
If the plane does not identify itself, it is approached by fighter jets from the country, which accompany it until it leaves the official border.
What if he doesn’t walk away?
With no radio response or pilot signaling, the fighter fires warning shots; later, it can even take down the invader, at the limit
