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South Korea scrambles jets as Chinese and Russian aircraft approach
Summary
A look back at an air defence incident near the Korean peninsula and a parallel deployment in Central Africa.
What happened on 22 December 2020, when military aircraft from two powers entered South Korea's air defence identification zone? South Korea said it scrambled fighter jets after four Chinese and fifteen Russian military aircraft came into the zone.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said China had notified it in advance of a joint military exercise between China and Russia. That advance notice set the episode apart from an unannounced incursion: Seoul had been told an exercise was planned, yet it still sent its own fighters up.
A second front for Russian forces
The previous day, 21 December 2020, Rwanda deployed what it called a "protection force" to the Central African Republic after its peacekeepers were attacked by rebel forces advancing on the capital, Bangui. The Rwandan and Central African Republic governments accused former President François Bozizé of backing the rebels and plotting a coup. He denied it.
Russia also sent troops and heavy weaponry to support the government.
