Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with Sakhalin region Governor Valery Limarenko during his visit to the Southern Kuril Island of Iturup
| Photo Credit: REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (August 13, 2026) visited the Kuril Islands, a Russian-controlled Pacific island chain also claimed by Japan, for the first time, drawing protests from Tokyo.Mr. Putin visited a fish plant, a hospital and a school on Iturup, one of the chain's southernmost islands. He also briefly spoke to local residents and met with the governor of Russia's Sakhalin region, Valery Limarenko.Japan asserts territorial rights to the four southernmost islands of the chain, which it calls the Northern Territories. The Soviet Union took them from Japan in the final days of World War II, and the dispute kept the countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Yasny fish processing complex on the Southern Kuril Island of Iturup
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