The northern Kuril island, a part of a strategically placed chain of islands stretching between Japan and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, has been the site of the deployment of mobile coastal defence missile systems, according to the Russian defence ministry.
In a dispute over territory that dates back to the end of World War Two, when Soviet troops took control of the southern Kuril islands from Japan, Japan asserts sovereignty over what Tokyo refers to as the Northern Territories.
The island of Paramushir is now home to Russian Bastion systems, equipped with missiles with a maximum range of 500 kilometers (310 miles).
“Coastal servicemen of the Pacific Fleet will keep a round-the-clock watch to control the adjacent water area and strait zones,” it said.
According to the government, a military camp has been established on Paramushir with amenities for year-round service, lodging, entertainment, and food for servicemen.
According to a statement from the ministry, this deployment comes a year after Russia installed the Bastion systems on the island of Matua in the Kuril Ridge’s middle.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno stated that the government would closely monitor Russian military activity, noting that it has been escalating in the region’s far east in tandem with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Invasion is described as a “special operation” by Russia.
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Moscow’s militarization of the Kuril Islands “has flown largely under the radar,” according to a September assessment from the Washington-based research tank Center for Strategic and International Studies. This is because it was overshadowed by the invasion of Ukraine.
According to a statement from the ministry, this deployment comes a year after Russia installed the Bastion systems on the island of Matua in the Kuril Ridge’s middle.
Following the deployment of tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in what Moscow refers to as a “special military operation,” Japan has joined its partners in the West in imposing economic penalties on Russia. According to Ukraine and its allies, Russia started a war without warning.
Due to Japanese sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia halted cooperation and economic initiatives and withdrew from peace treaty negotiations with Japan.
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