MOSCOW. June 4 (Interfax) - Moscow has declared a resolute protest to Tokyo over the training firing performed by the Japanese military near the Russian border, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"On June 4, a resolute protest was declared to the embassy of Japan in Moscow over the training firing involving the patrol boat Kawagiri of the Japan Coast Guard conducted in the open sea 18.5 kilometers northeast of Cape Shiretoko (Hokkaido Island) on May 23 without prior notification to foreign ships and vessels," according to a statement published on the ministry website.
"Such irresponsible actions in direct vicinity of the borders of the Russian Federation are an obvious violation of international law, create direct risks to civilian navigation, the life and health of Russian citizens, and are categorically unacceptable," it said.
"In the corresponding note, the Russian Foreign Ministry also demanded that the Japanese side properly explain the essence of what happened and take exhaustive measures to prevent such incidents from occurring again," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
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