Russia protests over Japan’s firing of HIMARS in exercise with US

 Military members from 18 countries listen to a lecture as U.S. Marine Corps’ M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF)’s Type 12 Surface-to-Ship Missile (12SSM) unit are displayed during the Pacific Amphibious Leaders Symposium 2022 (PALS22) at JGSDF Kisarazu base in Kisarazu, east of Tokyo, Japan June 16, 2022. REUTERS FILE PHOTO

LONDON — Russia said it had protested to the Japanese embassy on Wednesday over joint Japan-U.S. military exercises this week in which it said HIMARS rocket systems were fired close to Russia’s borders.

“We consider the military exercises that took place as a challenge to ensuring the security of the Far Eastern region of our country and insist on the immediate cessation of such actions,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

“The Japanese side was also warned about the inevitability of adequate response measures in order to block military threats to Russia,” it added, without elaborating.

HIMARS are the same rocket systems that the United States has supplied to Ukraine, which Kyiv has put to effective use in attacking Russian command nodes and supply lines.

Japan has joined Western countries in imposing sanctions on Russia in response to its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Relations have further worsened in recent weeks, with Russia expelling a Japanese consul for alleged espionage and Tokyo responding in kind.

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