South Korea Says Russian Military Aircraft Entered Air-Defense Zone

South Korea says several Russian military aircraft briefly entered its air-defense identification zone over the East Sea, prompting the deployment of Air Force fighters. The Joint Chiefs of Staff disclosed Wednesday that the aircraft flew near Ulleung Island and Dokdo on Tuesday before leaving the zone. South Korea detected them before entry and prepared tactical measures for possible contingencies. Officials stressed that the aircraft never entered sovereign airspace. The incident follows a late-June flight by roughly ten Chinese and Russian military aircraft that also entered the identification zone and drew protests from Seoul.