Russia to raise army presence on Kuril islands

MOSCOW: Russia said Friday it was taking unprecedented measures to upgrade its military presence on the far-eastern Kuril islands claimed by Japan, including plans to set up a new base on an uninhabited island.
Col.-Gen. Sergei Surovikin, commander of the eastern military district, announced the launch of “unprecedented measures to develop military infrastructure in the area,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. He said Russia was taking the steps to “exclude the emergence of even the smallest risks.”
Russia has military bases on the Kuril Pacific archipelago, while Japan claims four of the islands in a dispute that has simmered since WWII, preventing the countries ever signing a peace treaty.
Soviet troops seized the four at the end of WWII just after Japan surrendered.
Surovikin listed the measures being taken as “a planned rearmament of the formations and units and boosting the level of social protection for all categories of serving soldiers and their family members.”
Russia earlier this month sent six ships from its Pacific Ocean naval fleet on an expedition to an uninhabited island in the archipelago called Matua.
Surovikin said Friday “the main aim of the expedition is to study the possibility of future basing of Pacific Fleet forces there.”
“The eastern outpost of Russia, particularly Sakhalin Island and the Kuril islands provide unconditional guarantees of security and the territorial integrity of our country,” he said.
Matua is not one of the four islands in the chain claimed by Japan and is closer to Russia.
Russian television showed army tents set up on the island as well as a cargo ship landing military vehicles.
Troops have set up a field camp and organized water and electricity supplies and communications, Surovikin said. The uninhabited island is swathed in fog and has snow at sea level even in late May. It is dominated by a snow-topped active volcano.
Rossiya 24 television showed sappers exploding mines from World War II. It said that the island had housed a secret Japanese base and still has three airstrips and numerous fortifications.
The bullish statements come as Japan hosts a summit of the Group of Seven, which has snubbed Russia over its actions in Ukraine.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in March that Russia would deploy a range of coastal missile systems on the Kurils as part of increased military spending in the region.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Russian President Vladimir Putin this month at his holiday residence in Sochi with peace talks high on the agenda.
The Japanese foreign ministry afterwards said Abe had come closer to a breakthrough on the dispute and had proposed a new approach, while Russia said simply that negotiations between diplomats would continue.
Putin is expected to visit Japan some time this year, a Kremlin adviser told journalists this month.