Russia deployed S-300 air defense systems for the first time on the Kuril Islands near the border with Japan.
The ministry said in a statement to The Eastern Herald, on Tuesday, that Gennady Jedko, the commander of the Eastern Military Region on the Russian border with China, had visited the region.
The ministry explained that, within the framework of the visit, an inspection tour was conducted on the “S-300” systems located in the Kuril Islands.
It indicated that maneuvers would be conducted in the region against scenarios of violating Russian airspace.
The Russian ministry pointed out that the air defense systems that were deployed on the islands for the first time are the S-300V4, the latest generation of the S-300.
The Russian-made S – 300V 4 is designed to protect vital installations and forces groups from airborne ballistic attacks.
The Kuril Islands form a chain link between the far northeast of Japan and the southernmost of the “Kamchatka” peninsula, the far east of Russia.
Tokyo confirms its ownership of the four South Kuril Islands (Iturup, Konashir, Shikotan, and Habomai), according to the bilateral trade agreement concluded on the border in 1855.
Tokyo made the return of the four islands a condition of the peace treaty with Russia, which had not been signed since World War II.
But Moscow’s position is that the South Kuril Islands, in fact, have become part of the former Soviet Union, since the end of World War II, and that Russian sovereignty over them is registered within international law charters so that no one can question their authenticity.
