Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Kuril Islands, a territory disputed with Japan, for the first time on the 13th, local time.

Japan immediately protested.

According to Russia's state-run TASS news agency, President Putin, who has been touring the Siberian and Far Eastern regions since the 10th, visited Iturup, one of the four disputed islands in the Kuril chain known in Japan as Etorofu, today and tasted various types of caviar at a seafood processing plant.

He subsequently inspected local schools and hospitals, had casual conversations with residents, and held a business meeting with Valery Limarenko, Governor of Sakhalin Oblast.

This marks President Putin's first visit to the Kuril Islands, which are located right in front of Japan's Hokkaido region.

While Dmitry Medvedev, Putin's close confidant and former president who currently serves as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, became the first Russian leader to visit the area in 2010 during his presidency and visited a total of four times through 2019, Putin himself had not visited until now.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also stopped by Iturup in 2021.

The previous day, President Putin inspected the Varyag, a missile cruiser serving as the flagship of the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet and dubbed an aircraft carrier killer, in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the Russian Far East near the Kuril Islands, receiving training reports and displaying military might.

In Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, President Putin dismissed Japan's territorial claims over the Kuril Islands, stating, "This is a reality that emerged after World War II and is stipulated in international documents."

He also stated, "We do not threaten Japan, nor do we make any territorial claims against Japan," effectively emphasizing Russia's effective control over the area through his direct visit to the Kuril Islands today.

The previous day, President Putin voiced strong grievances against Japan, saying, "Japan imposed unilateral sanctions against Russia without properly grasping the root cause of the Ukraine situation," and even brought up the fact that the Japanese Cabinet designated Russia as a threat factor in its defense white paper earlier this month.

These moves provoked Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi received a briefing on President Putin's visit from National Security Secretariat Head Keiichi Ichikawa and held a press conference, stating, "The Northern Territories are historically and under international law Japan's inherent territory, and we strongly protest this visit."

Prime Minister Takaichi stated, "President Putin's visit to the Kuril Islands hurts the feelings of the Japanese people and makes it difficult to restore mid- to long-term relations between the two countries," adding that Japan will firmly review its future response toward Russia.

Prime Minister Takaichi also noted that amid strained Russia-Japan relations following the war in Ukraine, "Japan has made every possible effort."

Although the Kuril Islands currently have a population of only 20,000, the region is abundant in mineral resources such as gold and silver, as well as surrounding fishery resources.

Russia has taken control of the Kuril Islands, including the four islands of Kunashir, Iturup, Habomai, and Shikotan, toward the end of World War II in 1945, expelling Japanese residents and stationing troops there.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)