Japan protests as Russia’s Putin visits disputed Kuril Islands

Japanese PM says Putin’s visit to the Pacific island chain, seized by the Soviet Union in 1945, is ‘unacceptable’.Published On 13 Aug 202613 Aug 2026Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has paid his first-ever visit to a Russian-administered island chain in the Pacific that is also claimed by Japan, drawing condemnation from Tokyo.Putin visited the Kuril Islands on Thursday, meeting with the regional governor and visiting a fish-processing plant, a hospital and a school on the southernmost isle of Iturup, according to Russian state media.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Putin warns of tit-for-tat seizures of European vesselslist 2 of 3Russian strike sparks fire at Ukraine port; Zelenskyy seeks interceptorslist 3 of 3Ukraine’s strikes on Russia’s Wildberries ‘aren’t about the front line’end of listJapan asserts territorial rights to the four southernmost islands of the chain, which it calls the Northern Territories. The isles were seized by the Soviet Union during the second world war and have remained a source of friction between Moscow and Tokyo.Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called Putin’s visit to the territory “absolutely unacceptable”, saying it “offends the s...