Tokyo issues angry response as Putin makes his first visit to the disputed Kuril islands

Name: Tokyo issues angry response as Putin makes his first visit to the disputed Kuril islands
Uploaded: 2026-08-13T09:25:04+00:00
Duration: 1 min 43 s
Channel: euronews (in English)

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12 hours ago

Tokyo issues angry response as Putin makes his first visit to the disputed Kuril islands

The four contested islands, seized by Russia during World War II, have gained importance since the end of the conflict, providing strategic military bases to the Kremlin.

READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/08/13/tokyo-issues-angry-response-as-putin-makes-his-first-visit-to-the-disputed-kuril-islands

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00:00Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited the far eastern Kyrill Islands for the first time on Thursday,

00:07prompting strong protests from Japan, which also claims the territory.

00:11Japan's top diplomat Toshimitsu Motegi slammed the visit,

00:15stressing that the islands, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories,

00:19are inherently theirs, both historically and under international law.

00:24Russian state media posted videos of Putin on Iturub,

00:27the largest of the disputed islands, visiting a school, a hospital and a fish processing complex where he sampled caviar.

00:35The Russian leader's top came after a brief visit to Sakhalin,

00:39a nearby Russian island where the Navy was conducting drills.

00:43In Sakhalin, Putin held a meeting on, quote, ensuring the security of Russia's eastern borders.

00:49The Kyrill Archipelago was seized by Russia in August 1945,

00:53just days after the Soviet Union declared war on Japan in the dying stretch of World War II.

01:00The mineral-rich islands have grown in strategic importance to the Kremlin,

01:04providing them with military bases and fishing grounds.

01:08The islands were previously home to some 17,000 Japanese,

01:12whom Russia deported shortly after annexation,

01:15and are today home to around 20,000 Russian citizens.

01:19Relations between Moscow and Tokyo have remained sour since,

01:23especially after Russia sought closer ties with China and North Korea,

01:26whom Tokyo has had turbulent relations with.

01:29The last visit by a Kremlin head of state to the islands was back in 2010,

01:34by then-President Dmitry Medvedev,

01:37who later revisited several times as prime minister.

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