Putin visits Kuril Island of Iturup

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the far-eastern Kuril islands near Japan's northernmost Hokkaido island for the first time on Thursday. Tokyo issued a strong protest in response to the Russian leader's visit to the disputed territory claimed by Japan that was seized by the Soviet Union in 1945.

Japanese foreign ministry claims that all the "northern territories," as Tokyo refers to the southern part of the Kuril Islands, including Iturup, are an "ancestral Japanese territory" The head of state, during his working trip to Iturup, also visited the secondary school named after Hero of Russia Eduard Norpolov As follows from a video released by the Kremlin press service, Vladimir Putin visited the Yasny fish-packing factory on Iturup The Russian leader visited the Kuril islands for the.

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