Russian Navy Conducts Missile Drills Near Disputed Kuril Islands

The Russian Navy has carried out a successful missile test near the country’s Kuril Islands, the Pacific Fleet has said.

The test comes a week after Japan vigorously protested Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first-ever visit to the archipelago, which is partially claimed by Tokyo.

The missile test, which took place near the southern Kurils, involved the Varyag guided missile cruiser, the Omsk nuclear-powered submarine, and a ground-based Bastion surface-to-ship missile system, the Russian Pacific Fleet said in a statement on Thursday.

They fired several types of munitions at a target simulating enemy vessels at a distance of around 300 km (186 miles), with targeting data provided by naval aviation, the fleet said.

Objective control data confirmed the destruction of all targets, it stressed.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi reacted to the drills by telling reporters that Tokyo “cannot tolerate moves [by Russia] to strengthen military power on the four Northern Islands because they go against our country’s stance [on the territories].”

Kyodo news earlier reported that Japan had lodged a protest with Russia after Moscow notified it of the upcoming missile test last week.

On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Tokyo’s ambassador to Moscow to express a strong protest over “anti-Russian statements” by the Japanese leadership.

After Putin traveled to Iturup, the largest of the Kuril Islands, on August 13, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the trip “absolutely unacceptable” and said it “hurts the feelings of the Japanese people.” Motegi also issued a statement, claiming that the four southernmost islands of the archipelago “are an inherent part of Japan’s territory both historically and under international law.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it informed the Japanese envoy that “Russia’s sovereignty and jurisdiction over the southern Kuril Islands are inviolable. These territories were transferred to our country following World War II, as enshrined in the relevant agreements of the Allied Powers and the UN Charter.”

“Any attempts by the Japanese side to directly or indirectly call this obvious reality into question are categorically unacceptable and illegitimate,” it added.

Moscow “reserves the right to take appropriate countermeasures” in response to Japan’s adherence to Western sanctions against Russia and its support for Ukraine, the ministry warned.

The Kuril Islands, stretching from Kamchatka to Japan’s Hokkaido, came under Soviet control following Tokyo’s defeat in World War II and were subsequently incorporated into the USSR. The Japanese authorities, however, continue to claim the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and the Habomai – which they call the “Northern Territories.” The dispute has been the main obstacle to Moscow and Tokyo signing a formal peace treaty in the eight decades since the conflict.