Japan protests Russian missile tests off disputed islands

TOKYO: Japan said on Friday (Aug 21) it had protested against Russia's notification that Moscow would conduct missile tests off disputed islands visited by President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.Bilateral relations have long been dogged by the Kuril islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized in 1945 by the Soviet Union, which then expelled the Japanese population."We lodged a protest in response to the notification about the plan to conduct a missile test" off the islands, a Japanese government spokesman told AFP.Russia's Pacific Fleet said on Thursday it had already conducted the missile test, although it was unclear when it took place. "During planned exercises, Pacific Fleet forces carried out a missile strike against targets off the coast of the Southern Kuril