Overview
- President Vladimir Putin, who visited Iturup on Thursday, August 13, 2026, toured a fish‑processing plant, a district hospital and a school and met Sakhalin governor Valery Limarenko.
- Japan's foreign ministry issued a formal protest saying the northern territories are historically and legally part of Japan and that it strongly objects to the visit.
- The visit does not change the islands' legal status and comes against a long‑running dispute that has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a World War II peace treaty; a 1956 declaration had contemplated transfer of Shikotan and Habomai but no treaty was ever concluded.
- Senior Russian officials have visited the Kurils before, but this was Putin's first trip to the islands, giving the visit particular symbolic weight for domestic audiences and diplomatic signalling.
- Relations remain hardened by Japan's sanctions on Russian leaders since 2022, and the visit is likely to prolong bilateral tensions, affect local civil and economic ties on the islands, and keep prospects for a negotiated settlement low.