Japan protests Putin’s first visit to disputed islands

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday visited Russia’s far-eastern Kuril Islands for the first time, prompting protests by Japan which also claims the territory. Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by the contested islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized by the Soviet Union in 1945. The Kremlin posted a video of Putin on one of the Kurils’ four main islands, with Russian media saying he visited a fish-processing plant and was given caviar. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, observes a military drill of the Pacific fleet on board the missile cruiser Varyag in Russia’s far eastern Sakhalin region on Wednesday. Photo: Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik via Reuters It was the first visit by a Russian president since Dmitry Medvedev in 2010. “The Northern Te