Putin Visits Disputed Kuril Islands, Drawing Angry Protest From Japan

ITURUP, Kuril Islands —

Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to the disputed Kuril Islands on Thursday, his first visit to the archipelago since taking power, and the trip immediately drew a furious response from Japan, which also claims the territory.

Putin visited Iturup, known in Japan as Etorofu, the southernmost of the four islands at the center of the dispute, according to Al Jazeera. He toured a fish processing plant, where he was given caviar, and stopped at a hospital and a school, Al Jazeera and Euronews reported, citing Russian state media. He also met with the regional governor.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan called the visit "absolutely unacceptable" and said it "offends the sentiments of the Japanese people," according to Al Jazeera. She told reporters in Tokyo that the islands belong to Japan "both historically and under international law," and said the trip by a sitting Russian president runs against Japan's longstanding position on what Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, The Guardian reported.

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi summoned Russia's ambassador to Japan, Nikolay Nozdrev, to lodge what Japan's foreign ministry described as a strong protest, Al Jazeera reported.

A Dispute Rooted in 1945

The Soviet Union seized the islands in the final days of World War II, declaring war on Japan in August 1945, days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and just before Japan's surrender, according to Euronews. Moscow deported roughly 17,000 Japanese residents from the islands at the time. About 20,000 Russian citizens live there now, according to The Guardian and Al Jazeera.

The unresolved territorial claim has kept Russia and Japan from signing a formal peace treaty ever since. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had worked out an understanding with Putin that let former island residents visit family graves and raised hopes for a treaty, The Guardian reported. Those hopes collapsed after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, when Japan joined other Group of Seven nations in sanctioning Moscow and sending aid to Kyiv.

Putin traveled to the islands after a stop on the nearby Russian island of Sakhalin, where he watched navy drills and held a meeting described by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti as focused on "ensuring the security of Russia's eastern borders," according to the South China Morning Post and Euronews. Putin also called Japan's sanctions "unprovoked," saying: "Japan has identified Russia as a major source of threats. I would like to point out that we are not threatening Japan. On the contrary, it has territorial claims against our country," according to The Guardian.

Dmitry Medvedev, who was widely seen as a Putin loyalist, visited one of the islands in 2010 while serving as Russia's president, making him the first Russian leader to go there, Euronews reported. Putin's visit this week was his first.