Japan cries foul as Russia moves missiles into Kuril Islands

Tokyo files protest with Moscow after it deploys battery of air-defence missiles on islands off Hokkaido

The escalation in military tensions comes as Japan is already involved in bitter sovereignty disputes with China and South Korea

Reading Time:4 minutes

A rocket launches from the Ashuluk military base in Southern Russia. The Russian weapons system on Iturup, one of the Southern Kuril archipelago, is designed to target enemy aircraft and inbound missiles. Photo: AP

Published: 5:15pm, 3 Dec 2020Updated: 9:28pm, 3 Dec 2020

Tokyo has filed an official protest with Moscow through diplomatic channels after the Russian military deployed a battery of advanced air-defence missiles on one of the four islands off northern Hokkaido that Soviet forces seized in the closing days of World War II, and which Japan still claims as its territory.

The battery of S-300V4 missiles was deployed on Iturup, one of the Southern Kuril archipelago. Japan refers to the island as Etorofu, part of the Northern Territories.

Russian television has broadcast images of exercises using the weapons system, which is designed to target enemy aircraft and inbound missiles, since it was installed. The missiles have an effective range of 400km.

Russia has also deployed advanced fighter jets on the islands, along with anti-shipping missiles.

“The deployment contributes to the Russian military build-up on the Northern Territories and conflicts with our country’s position that the islands are our inherent territory,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said at a press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The escalation of military tensions at the most northerly point of the Japanese archipelago is an unwelcome complication for the administration of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. As well as the disagreement with Russia over territory, Japan is at odds with South Korea over the sovereignty of Dok-do, which Tokyo refers to as Takeshima, and both Beijing and Taipei over ownership of the Senkakus, known as the Diaoyu Islands to China.

There were some very significant differences between the three different disputes, said Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor of international relations at Waseda University in Tokyo.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x

Japan cries foul as Russia moves missiles into Kuril Islands

Tokyo files protest with Moscow after it deploys battery of air-defence missiles on islands off Hokkaido The escalation in military tensions comes as Japan is already involved in bitter sovereignty disputes with China and South Korea

Tokyo files protest with Moscow after it deploys battery of air-defence missiles on islands off Hokkaido

The escalation in military tensions comes as Japan is already involved in bitter sovereignty disputes with China and South Korea