The Kuril Islands may seem like a remote corner of the Pacific, but they continue to influence the strategic balance of power in North-East Asia. Vladimir Putin’s visit to Iturup (Etorofu in Japanese) was certainly not merely a routine official stop: it was a demonstration of sovereignty, a political signal directed at Tokyo and a reminder that some wounds from the Second World War are still open.

A dispute that has never ended

To understand the significance of the visit, we must start with a reality that is often little known or, at any rate, not discussed enough.

The Southern Kuril Islands – Etorofu (Iturup), Kunashiri (Kunashir), Shikotan and the Habomai group – are administered by Russia but claimed by Japan, which refers to them as the ‘Northern Territories’ (北方領土, Hoppō Ryōdo).

But why is this the case?

The dispute arose in 1945, when the Soviet Union occupied the islands in the final days of the war against Japan.
Since then, the two countries have never signed a definitive peace treaty. It is one of the most unusual cases in contemporary diplomacy: eighty years after the end of the conflict, Tokyo and Moscow remain, formally speaking, without a final agreement.

The chain of the Kuril Islands, stretched between Japanese and Russian territory

Why did Putin go there of all places?

Putin’s visit to Iturup was the Russian president’s first to the Kuril Islands during his long time in power. In the past, however, Dmitry Medvedev had already visited the islands in 2010 as president and in 2019 as prime minister, becoming the first Russian leader to visit the disputed territory.
What is new, therefore, is not that a Russian leader is travelling to the Kuril Islands, but that Putin is doing so in person.

During his visit, the Russian president visited a school, a hospital and a fish-processing plant.

There, he stopped to sample caviar and local fish roe —ikura ( いくら), the prized salmon roe which in Japan is an iconic ingredient of the national cuisine, linked to a tradition of salmon fishing that has ancient roots in the Japanese archipelago.

There is an almost unintentional paradox in this gesture: the word ‘ikura’ itself is not Japanese, but Russian (икра, ‘fish roe’), a loanword that Japan has adopted to the point of making it one of the most recognisable symbols of its own cuisine.
A scene — filmed and broadcast by Russian state television — that carried almost more symbolic than gastronomic significance: a head of state, smiling for the cameras, savouring a product that Japan has made its own but which bears a Russian origin in its name, harvested from the waters of an archipelago that Tokyo considers its own.

It is another way of saying ‘this land, and what it produces, are mine’ — right down to the language used to describe it, just as Putin did in front of the cameras.

Meanwhile, the Kuril Islands have become a highly significant strategic platform in recent years.
Russia has strengthened its military presence in the archipelago and regards control of these islands as essential for access to the Pacific and the defence of the Sea of Okhotsk.
Against a backdrop marked by the war in Ukraine, the growing rapprochement between Moscow and Beijing, and the strengthening of cooperation between Japan and the United States, the visit takes on the significance of a reaffirmation of Russian sovereignty.

The timing of the trip, which took place shortly before Japan’s commemorations of the end of the Pacific War, can also be interpreted as a political signal, although this interpretation has not been officially confirmed by Moscow.
A key point is that Putin had already announced his intention to visit the islands in 2024, and Tokyo had repeatedly asked Russia to refrain from such a move.

Takaichi’s response

Japan’s reaction was strong and immediate. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (高市早苗) described the visit as “utterly unacceptable”, emphasising that the islands form an integral part of Japanese territory from both a historical and legal perspective. The government summoned the Russian ambassador in Tokyo to lodge a formal protest.

In her public statement, Takaichi emphasised a point worthy of attention: such a gesture, she argued, makes any improvement in relations with Russia more difficult and fuels resentment amongst the Japanese public towards Moscow. This is an important development because it shifts the discourse from the diplomatic to the domestic political sphere. The Kuril Islands issue, often perceived as a ‘frozen’ conflict, thus once again comes to bear on national sentiment and domestic consensus.

For Takaichi, who is one of the most assertive figures in Japanese conservatism, the incident confirms a broader perspective: Japan’s security cannot be separated from the development of its relations with Russia, China and North Korea.

The Kremlin strikes back

Dmitry Medvedev’s reaction served to highlight the political significance of the visit even further. In a message posted on X, the former Russian president dismissed the Japanese protests, stating that ‘this chatter will change nothing’, adding that the Kuril Islands ‘were, are and will remain Russian territory’.

The statement went beyond a mere diplomatic retort. Medvedev argued that anyone who questions Russian sovereignty over the islands will face ‘the monstrous consequences of their mistake’.
This wording reinforces the idea of a Russia determined to present the Kuril Islands issue as definitively settled and beyond the scope of any negotiations.

A new strategic climate

For years, successive Japanese governments – particularly during the Abe era – had sought to keep a channel of dialogue open with Moscow, in the hope of making progress on this issue. The invasion of Ukraine in 2022 radically changed the situation. Japanese sanctions against Russia and the Kremlin’s response have all but brought the dialogue on the peace treaty to a standstill.

Putin’s visit appears to close that window of opportunity even further. It is difficult to imagine that a Russian president would deliberately choose the territory most disputed with Japan without intending to send a message. That message is directed as much at the Japanese government as at the Japanese public: Russia considers the Kuril Islands issue to be essentially settled, has no intention of leaving any room for negotiations on sovereignty, and is communicating this directly to Takaichi on an issue that strikes a deep chord with the nation’s sense of identity.

A detail that Europe should not overlook

In Europe and in Italy , Russian propaganda has ‘conditioned’ us to view Moscow through a single lens and from a single perspective: that of Ukraine. But the Pacific reveals another side of the same coin: that of a Kremlin which uses historical memory, territorial rivalry and pressure on its democratic neighbours as different components of the same power strategy.

In this sense, the Kuril Islands are not merely a disputed archipelago on the fringes of international news. They are a veritable litmus test — a demonstration of just how far Moscow is prepared to go in its annexations and threats, from Kyiv to Tokyo, with Europe always in its sights.