Russian missile drills near disputed islands deepen tensions with Japan

Russia fired antiship and cruise missiles during naval drills near islands claimed by Japan, according to Moscow, adding to tensions days after President Vladimir Putin made his first visit to one of the disputed territories.

Two Vulkan antiship missiles were launched from the cruiser Varyag and a Granit cruise missile from the nuclear-powered submarine Omsk, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Thursday on Telegram.

A Bastion coastal-defense system stationed on the Kuril Islands also fired Oniks cruise missiles, according to the ministry. It did not specify the dates or precise locations of the launches.

Japan protested the military activity on Thursday.

“Russia’s military buildup in the Northern Territories — including missile exercises — runs counter to Japan’s position regarding the islands, and we consider it unacceptable,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said during a news conference in Oman.

Japan is gathering information about the exercise, he said.

The Kuril Islands are a Russian-controlled archipelago stretching between Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s four main islands.

Japan claims four islands at the southern end of the chain — Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group — which Tokyo collectively calls the Northern Territories.

The Russian announcement came about a week after Putin visited Etorofu for the first time following his observation of a Pacific Fleet exercise.

Tokyo also protested that visit.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi criticized Putin’s trip in an Aug. 13 post on X, describing the Northern Territories as “inherently Japanese territory both historically and under international law.”

Putin’s visit was “incompatible with Japan’s consistent position on the Northern Territories,” she wrote.

The visit “can only be said to have further hardened anti-Russia sentiment within Japan and made medium- to long-term recovery of relations more difficult,” she added.

The territorial dispute dates to the closing days of World War II, when Soviet forces seized the islands. The disagreement has prevented Japan and Russia from concluding a formal peace treaty ending their wartime hostilities.

Japan continues to view Russia’s military activities on and around the disputed islands as a security concern in its annual defense white papers, alongside growing concerns about Chinese and North Korean military actions.