Russian Warships Launch Missiles in Practice Drills Near the Kuril Islands; Tokyo, Moscow Claim Possession Over Disputed Archipelago

Russian warships underwent drills that included the live firing of missiles in the Japan Sea in international waters. An unresolved dispute over who holds sway of the Kuril Islands has both countries at odds with each other.

The show of strength in deploying the ships the have live firing of armament shows the resolve of Moscow not secede its claims.

There are no open hostilities over disputed islands, but moves by the Moscow and Tokyo are being made to resolve the disagreement peacefully.

Russian Navy holds war games in the Kuril archipelago

Naval units of the Russian navy fired off missiles in the sea, close to Japan, right after Tokyo announced it had the sole ownership of Kuril, reported the Sun UK.

When the Second World War ended, the archipelago of Kuril was seized by Stalin. At that time, it was the Japanese who owned the islands. But Tokyo, then and now, never accepted what Moscow did.

In his recent address to the parliament, new prime minister Fumio Kishida said that the countries boundaries extended to the northern territories, referring to the Kurils in Japanese, Chishima Islands, noted Uniindia.

Made a point to parliament that ending the problem of territories should be done now, not pass it on to the next generation.

Russia welcomed the new Japanese leader with a big bang and explosions that demonstrated the Russian warships' firepower. This thunderous welcome cannot be ignored, especially if it concerns the Kuril Islands.

Observers are chilled to see what Vladimir Putin sent across as a warning to Kishida's remarks. Another hotspot will become if Japan and Russia pull all the stops. One concern is the US will have to assist its ally and a possibility of a Third World war.

Two vessels fired the missiles in the war games, the flagship Varyag missile cruiser and the anti-sub warfare destroyer, Admiral Tributs. Both did the preplanned exercises in the drills.

Firing a salvo of shots from the Fort, Osa, Kinzhal missiles that tracked and hit fast aerial targets, said the fleets press office. The war games used ten missiles for the drills in the Japanese sea. Russia used about 12 vessels and support ships for the exercises.

The objective of the live-fire practice is to orient air defense crews on the Varyag how to detect, lock, and hit a fast-moving target.

Furthermore, Varyag and Admiral Tributs hit other targets in the exercise with the Osa and Kinzhal missile systems, also artillery fired as well.

Japan seeks peace treaty with Russia

This exercise in showing strength comes after Tokyo filed a diplomatic protest last June. No peace treaty exists with Japan and Russia even after World War II because of the Kuril dispute, cited The Diplomat.

Kishida told the Japanese Parliament that he wanted a peace treaty with Moscow, and he invited the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to visit Japan because of this.

Lavrov stated that Russia has good relations with Japan, although Putin believes the disputed island is theirs. The minister said last week that Russia had "constructive, frank relations" with Japan. Still, the prospect of the Kuril Islands returning to Tokyo is seen as highly unlikely while Putin remains in the Kremlin. But, Russian warships might be seen once in a while to rattle Tokyo.