Russia has occupied the southern part of the Kuril Islands, contrary to international law, as is the attack on Ukraine.
It was announced on Monday, 28 February, during a debate in the Japanese parliament by the director of the European Department of the Japanese Foreign Ministry Hideki Uyama, "Khabarovsk News" reports.
"The northern territories (as the southern part of the Kuril Islands is called in Tokyo) are occupied, and we believe that this is contrary to international law, as is the Russian army's attack on Ukraine at the moment," the Japanese diplomat said.
In recent years, Japanese authorities have refrained from the term "occupation", describing the situation around the southern Kuril Islands, limiting themselves to saying that "Japanese sovereignty extends to these islands." On the official website of the 2020 Olympics, which took place in Tokyo, the South Kuril Islands islands were marked as Japan's territory on an interactive map.
We should note that on 8 August 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan. During the fighting, Soviet troops entirely occupied the Kuril Islands.
All the islands of the Southern Kurils are part of the Sakhalin region of Russia, and Japan challenges all but Urup.