Russia says it fired anti-ship missiles at mock target in Sea of Japan

Russia has held such exercises before, firing test Moskit missiles in a similar drill last year.

But Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said that as Moscow’s Ukraine offensive continues, “the Russia military is increasing activity in the Far East, including areas near Japan”.

“We will continue to monitor Russia’s military movements closely,” he said, quoted by the Jiji Press news agency.

He said there had been no reported damage from the test strikes.

Last week, Russia said that two of its Tu-95 strategic bomber planes performed “flights in the airspace over neutral waters in the Sea of Japan”.

The bomber jet flights came after Japan’s Kishida visited Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Japan has joined Western allies in sanctioning Russia over its offensive in Ukraine.

Russia’s far eastern Pacific coast is separated from Japan by the narrow Sea of Japan.