Japan scrambled jet fighters after spotting Russian military planes over the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Japan on Thursday, the defence ministry said.

It detected one Russian information-gathering aircraft IL-20 flying round-trip from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Pacific and another IL-20 flying toward the waters near Sado Island before turning toward the continent, the ministry said. (Reporting by Kantaro Komiya, Editing by William Maclean)