Premium

Russia says it has test-fired missiles in the Sea of Japan

Japan's foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Tokyo will stay vigilant against Moscow's military operations, while adding that no damage had been reported after the missile launches.

A Russian navy boat launches an anti-ship missile test in the Peter The Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan. Russia's Defense Ministry says Moscow has test-fired anti-ship missiles in the Sea of Japan. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

Russia’s navy fired supersonic anti-ship missiles at a mock target in the Sea of Japan, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday.

“In the waters of the Sea of Japan, missile ships of the Pacific Fleet fired Moskit cruise missiles at a mock enemy sea target,” it said in a statement on its Telegram account. “The target, located at a distance of about 100 kilometres, was successfully hit by a direct hit from two Moskit cruise missiles.”

The P-270 Moskit missile, which has the NATO reporting name or SS-N-22 Sunburn, is a medium-range supersonic cruise missile of Soviet origin, capable of destroying a ship within a range of up to 120 km.

In this photo made from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, a Russian navy boat launches an anti-ship missile test in the Peter The Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan. Russia's Defense Ministry says Moscow has test-fired anti-ship missiles in the Sea of Japan. The ministry said Tuesday that a few boats launched a simulated missile attack on a mock enemy warship about 60 miles away. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

A Russian navy boat launches an anti-ship missile test in the Peter The Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Japan’s foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Tokyo will stay vigilant against Moscow’s military operations, while adding that no damage had been reported after the missile launches.

“As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, Russian forces are also becoming more active in the Far East, including Japan’s vicinities,” Hayashi told a regular press conference.

A Russian navy boat launches an anti-ship missile test in the Peter The Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan. (AP/PTI)

The firing of the missiles comes a week after two Russian strategic bomber planes, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, flew over the Sea of Japan for more than seven hours in what Moscow said was a “planned flight”.

Asked about Russia’s plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Hayashi said Japan condemned the move and demanded Russia and Belarus to stop “such an action that would further increase tensions”.