Putin pays his first visit to Pacific island chain claimed by Japan, drawing a protest from Tokyo

Putin pays his first visit to Pacific island chain claimed by Japan, drawing a protest from Tokyo 1 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, visits the Secondary School named after the Hero of Russia Eduard Norpolov in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s fareast, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) 2 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Sakhalin Region Governor Valery Limarenko in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s fareast, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) 3 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, visits the central district hospital at Kitovoye village on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s fareast, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) 4 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin, second left, visits a secondary school named after Eduard Norpolov in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s far-east, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) 5 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, interacts with schoolchildren as he visits a secondary school named after Eduard Norpolov in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s far-east, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) 1 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, visits the Secondary School named after the Hero of Russia Eduard Norpolov in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s fareast, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) 1 of 5 Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, visits the Secondary School named after the Hero of Russia Eduard Norpolov in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s fareast, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Sakhalin Region Governor Valery Limarenko in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s fareast, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) 2 of 5 Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Sakhalin Region Governor Valery Limarenko in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s fareast, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, visits the central district hospital at Kitovoye village on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s fareast, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) 3 of 5 Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, visits the central district hospital at Kitovoye village on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s fareast, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 4 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin, second left, visits a secondary school named after Eduard Norpolov in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s far-east, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) 4 of 5 Russian President Vladimir Putin, second left, visits a secondary school named after Eduard Norpolov in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s far-east, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 5 of 5 | Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, interacts with schoolchildren as he visits a secondary school named after Eduard Norpolov in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s far-east, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) 5 of 5 Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, interacts with schoolchildren as he visits a secondary school named after Eduard Norpolov in Kurilsk on the Iturup Island, the largest of the Kuril Islands of Russia’s far-east, on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday for the first time visited the Kuril Islands, a Russian-controlled Pacific island chain also claimed by Japan, in a move that drew a protest from Tokyo. Putin visited a fish plant, a hospital and a school on Iturup, one of the chain’s southernmost islands. He also briefly spoke to local residents and met with the governor of Russia’s Sakhalin Region, Valery Limarenko. Japan asserts territorial rights to the four southernmost islands of the chain, which it calls the Northern Territories. The Soviet Union took them from Japan in the final days of World War II, and the dispute kept the countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities.Decades of diplomatic efforts to negotiate a settlement haven’t produced any visible results. Moscow over the years has also beefed up its military presence on the Kuril Islands in moves that appeared to underscore its firm stance in the dispute. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said his country “strongly protests” against Putin’s visit to Iturup, which Japan calls Etorofu. “The Northern Territories, including Etorofu (Iturup) Island, are Japan’s inherent territory both historically and from the perspective of international law,” Motegi said in a statement. Japan also protested in 2021 when Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited Iturup. 1 MIN READ 4 MIN READ 4 MIN READ Putin in recent days has visited several regions in Russia’s Siberia and the Far East. Before coming to Iturup, the Russian president stopped on Sakhalin Island to attend the final part of the drills by Russia’s Pacific Fleet.