Ukraine has condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the disputed Kuril Islands, with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accusing Moscow of using the same tactics of occupation it has used in the war against Ukraine. Putin visited the Kuril Islands for the first time on Thursday, Aug. 13, drawing fresh attention to the decades-long territorial dispute with Japan.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “Putin’s provocative visit to Japan’s Etorofu island demonstrates utter disrespect to Japan,” Sybiha said in a statement on X, adding that it “represents a deliberate attempt to intimidate, escalate tensions, and normalize illegal occupation.” Decades-old dispute rooted in World War II The Kuril Islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and referred to as the Southern Kurils by Russia, were seized by the former Soviet Union in the final stages of World War II, and have remained a source of tension since. Stretching from Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula to Japan’s Hokkaido, the islands remain occupied by Russia, despite Japan claiming the four southernmost islands in the chain – Etorofu (Russian Iturup), Kunashiri, Shikotan, and Habomai – arguing they were “illegally occupied.” The Soviet Union entered the war against Japan on Aug. 9, 1945, just days after the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Moscow, however, maintains its claim traces even back further, to Empress Catherine the Great’s 1786 declaration that Russian explorers had discovered the islands, according to AFP.