As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, Moscow is forced to funnel more and more of its military and economic resources to its western border.
- In Tokyo, conservative voices are hinting the war could give Japan a chance to take control of what the Japanese call the Northern Territories.
Key points
- The strategically located islands are known as Kuril Islands in Russia, and were seized by Soviet forces in the closing days of WWII.
- The island separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean.
- The chain is part of the belt of geologic instability (Ring of Fire) circling the Pacific and contains at least 100 volcanoes, of which 35 are still active, and many hot springs.
- In 1945, as part of the Yalta agreements (formalized in the 1951 Treaty of Peace with Japan), the islands were ceded to the Soviet Union, and the Japanese population was repatriated and replaced by Soviets.
- Japan still claims historical rights to the southernmost islands and has tried repeatedly to persuade the Soviet Union and, from 1991, Russia to return those islands to Japanese sovereignty.
