Overview
- Russian state media and pool photos show President Vladimir Putin travelled to Iturup on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, where he toured the Yasny fish‑processing plant, a hospital and a school and met Sakhalin governor Valery Limarenko.
- Japan lodged a formal protest, summoned Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev and saw strong public condemnations from Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who called the visit unacceptable and said the islands are Japan’s inherent territory.
- Moscow rejected Tokyo’s objections, with the Russian Embassy calling the protest unfounded and Kremlin outlets linking the trip to Putin’s oversight of recent Pacific Fleet naval exercises.
- The visit intensifies an already strained relationship that has stalled a formal Russia‑Japan peace treaty since World War II and is likely to harden Japanese public sentiment and diplomatic posture toward Moscow.
- The four islands at issue were taken by the Soviet Union in August 1945, remain strategically important for military bases and fisheries, and Putin’s reported personal visit — described by Russian media as his first to the disputed chain — revives that long‑running sovereignty dispute.