Putin Visits Japan-Claimed Western Pacific Island for 1st Time

Tokyo, Aug. 13 (Jiji Press)–Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first visit to one of the four Russian-held western Pacific islands that Japan calls the Northern Territories on Thursday, according to reports from Russia’s state-run Tass news agency and other media outlets. Through his visit to Etorofu Island, Putin apparently intended to warn Japan about its sanctions on Russia and demonstrate his country’s effective control over the four disputed islands. In 2010, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Kunashiri Island, becoming the first head of Russia or the former Soviet Union to visit any of the four Japan-claimed islands. Since then, senior Russian officials, including Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, have also visited the islands. While on Etorofu Island, Putin inspected a hospital and a fish processing plant with Sakhalin Region Governor Valery Limarenko, who effectively oversees the islands, the reports said. The president sampled locally produced salmon roe. Under the blue sky, Putin reportedly interacted with local residents near a school and said that the island looked like a resort. The residents responded that good weather is rare on the island and that it was as if being arranged for the president’s visit. Putin later held talks with Limarenko, who reported that around 2,000 Russian soldiers wounded during the invasion of Ukraine have received rehabilitation treatment in Sakhalin and that most of them have returned to the front lines. Referring to Shumshu Island, which is located at the northeastern end of the Kuril Islands and was the site of fierce battles between Soviet and Japanese troops in the closing days of World War II, Putin said that the fallen Soviet troops must not be forgotten. On Wednesday, Putin visited Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in Sakhalin to inspect naval drills. During a meeting with naval officers there, he claimed that Russian sovereignty over the Kuril Islands, including the Northern Territories, is enshrined in international documents. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]