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.
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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.
