Russia conducts missile tests on disputed islands as Japan protests drills

Moscow's decision to conduct missile tests off disputed islands visited by President Vladimir Putin earlier this month sparked another wave of protests from Japan, as tensions between the two countries continue to escalate.

Japanese news agency Kyodo quoted Russia's Pacific Fleet as saying that it had conducted the missile test, although it was unclear when it took place.

Kyodo reported that a unit equipped with the Bastion surface-to-ship missile system conducted the test from the chain's largest island, Etorofu.

Flagship of Russia's Pacific Fleet, the guided missile cruiser Varyag, also took part in the test, along with the Omsk nuclear-powered submarine, the news agency said.

The exercise simulated an attack on enemy vessels and hit all intended targets at a range of at least 300 kilometres, the fleet added, according to Kyodo.

"We believe Russia's military buildup in the Northern Territories including these missile drills runs counter to Japan's position regarding the Northern Territories, and is unacceptable," Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters Thursday during a trip to Oman.

"We cannot tolerate moves (by Russia) to strengthen military power on the four northern islands because they go against our country's stance (on the territories)," Motegi added.

He also said Tokyo will respond in a timely manner by comprehensively considering what serves Japan's national interests, according to Japanese public broadcaster HNK.

Relations continue to worsen

The Japanese government maintains that the four islands and groups of islets that make up the Northern Territories — Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomai — are part of its territory that the Soviets illegally occupied and Russia has continued to occupy since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Putin made his first official visit to the islands on 13 August, prompting Japan to summon Russia's ambassador.

Putin went there after visiting the nearby island of Sakhalin — where Russia's navy has been conducting drills — and the Varyag flagship.

After Putin's stop, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the islands "are an inherent part of Japan's territory, both historically and under international law".

Putin's visit "offends the sentiments of the Japanese people and is absolutely unacceptable," she added.

Ties between Japan and Russia have worsened since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, when Tokyo joined other G7 countries in sanctioning Moscow and aiding Kyiv.

Analysts said Putin's visit to the Kurils could have been aimed at warning Japan against deepening its support for Ukraine — potentially including the direct supply of Patriot missiles — and against closer cooperation with NATO.

Japan currently provides only non-lethal defence aid to Ukraine.

While Japan has eased restrictions on defence exports in recent years, it is still barred from supplying lethal military equipment directly to a country at war.

Kremlin's sabre-rattling

Moscow has reinforced its military presence on the islands as recently as December 2021, when it deployed Bastion coastal defence missile systems on an uninhabited volcanic island in the middle of the chain.

The island hosted a Japanese army base prior to the Soviet occupation. A Soviet base there was shut down amid funding shortages in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Moscow previously deployed Bal and Bastion missile systems on two of the four southernmost islands in 2016.

In the following years, Russia further beefed up its arsenal on the islands by sending top-of-the-line air defence missile systems, setting up an air base on Etorofu Island, and deploying fighter jets.

The sparsely inhabited islands are strategically significant to the Kremlin as they sit at the entrance to the Sea of Okhotsk and give Russia's Pacific Fleet access to the open Pacific without passing through Japanese-controlled waters.

Putin's visit was the first trip to the islands by a Russian president since Dmitry Medvedev in 2010.