Published on
13/08/2026 - 9:32 GMT+2
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the far-eastern Kuril islands for the first time on Thursday, prompting a "strong" protest by Japan which also claims the territory.
Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by tensions over the contested islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized by the Soviet Union in 1945.
The Kremlin posted a video of Putin in the Kuril Islands, with Russian media saying he visited a fish-processing plant where he was given caviar. Putin travelled to the Kurils after visiting the nearby Russian island of Sakhalin, where Russia's navy was conducting drills.
