The planned naming of a disputed Kuril island after Richard Sorge is the latest example of Russia strengthening its control over the features. It is part of a decade-long effort by Moscow to use commemoration to reinforce its claim regardless of Tokyo’s protest.
On July 28, the Sakhalin branch of the Russian Geographical Society announced the future placement of a plaque for Sorge, a Soviet intelligence officer, on an uninhabited island in the Lesser Kurils. Moscow is expected to rename the island after Sorge soon.
The announcement drew attention in Japan given the island’s location and Sorge’s legacy.
The island is part of the disputed Southern Kurils, which Japan calls the Northern Territories. The Kuril Islands stretch from Hokkaido to the Kamchatka Peninsula and provide Russia with protected access from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Pacific. Soviet forces occupied the islands in 1945, just before Japan’s surrender ended World War II. Japan still claims the southernmost four features: Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai Islands. More than 80 years later, the dispute remains unresolved.
Map of the Northern Territories of Japan (Kuril Islands). Wikimedia Commons.
