Putin Visits Disputed Iturup Island, Deepening Japan-Russia Kuril Rift
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Iturup Island (Etorofu in Japan) on 13 August 2026, becoming only the second Russian leader after Dmitry Medvedev to visit the disputed southern Kuril Islands — Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai islets — which Japan calls the Northern Territories and claims as its own; the two countries have never signed a peace treaty formally ending their WWII-era territorial dispute. Japan's Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Nikolai Nozdrev in protest; Russia summoned Japanese Ambassador Akira Muto in response, with Moscow reserving the right to take countermeasures.
Kuril Islands lie between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula and Japan's Hokkaido | Iturup falls administratively under Russia's Sakhalin Oblast | The dispute traces back to unresolved WWII-era territorial claims