http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/02/15/44403475.html
Feb 15, 2011 10:53 Moscow Time
Over 70% of the Japanese disapprove of the stand that their current Cabinet under Prime Minister Naoto Kan has taken on talks with Russia on the Kuril Islands. This follows form a nationwide public opinion poll, initiated by the Sankei Shimbun daily.
The poll was conducted following Naoto Kan’s scandalous statement about President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to the South Kuril Islands, a visit that Prime Minister Kan referred to as unforgivable outrage.
At the same time Japanese ultra right organizations launched a noisy demonstration of protest outside the Russian embassy in Tokyo and desecrated the Russian flag. This was followed by talks that Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara held in Moscow, talks that proved that the two countries are at odds over the ownership of the Kuril Islands.
Japan to closely watch Russia's military activity on south Kurils
http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20110215/162607606.html
06:42 15/02/2011
Japan plans to track Russia's military presence on the south Kuril Islands, Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said Tuesday.
"There's the tendency of Russia boosting its military activity [on south Kurils]. We need to closely watch this," he told journalists in Tokyo.
The sparsely populated islands in the Kuril chain between Japan's northern island of Hokkaido and Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula were annexed by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II but are still claimed by Japan.
The dispute over the islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan, has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a formal peace treaty.
Russia will increase its military presence on the disputed islands, President Dmitry Medvedev said on February 9, a day after Japan's premier demanded their return at a rally.
Speaking during a rally in Tokyo on February 8, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan called Medvedev's visit to the islands last November an "inexcusable rudeness," sparking an angry response from Moscow.
TOKYO, February 15 (RIA Novosti)
February 15, 2011 11:42
No plans to deploy more Army units on Kuril Islands - General Staff (Part 2)
http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=222391
MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax-AVN) - The number of Russian servicemen stationed on the Kuril Islands will stand at up to 3,500, and the authorities do not plan to deploy any new Army units in the region, a high-ranking representative of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.
"As part of the upcoming transformation of the machine gun-artillery division deployed on the Kuril Islands into a modern-type motorized rifle brigade, today's number of its servicemen will be preserved and will stand at up to 3,500," he said.
The official refused to confirm recent news reports claiming that a decision was made to deploy one more air defense missile brigade equipped with S-400 system on the Kuril Islands.
"There is no need to place such a unit on the islands. The air defense means available to the Land Forces are quite sufficient to protect them from an air strike," he said.
The brigade is expected to operate light armored hardware, including combat infantry vehicles and armored personnel carriers, as well as artillery systems and small arms, the source said.
"There are no plans to deploy heavy weapons on the Kuril Islands," he said.
More strike and transport helicopters will be stationed at the military airfield on Iturup Island, while the region's military aviation commandant's office will be set up on Shikotan Island, he said.
An aide to the Russian defense minister, Gen. Yury Yakubov, earlier told Interfax-AVN about plans to enlarge the runway of the airfield on Iturup Island.
"This will make it possible to accept [Ilyushin] Il-76 military transport airplanes that will deliver all of the necessary supplies to the garrison. I think that there is a need to strengthen the garrison by providing it with military aircraft. The number of helicopters deployed there today is clearly insufficient," he said.
tm mj
(Our editorial staff can be reached at eng.editors@interfax.ru)
http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20110215/162608640.html
09:01 15/02/2011
Moscow will deploy reinforcements to include short- and long-ranged Zenith missile defense systems to the southern Kuril Islands to protect Russia's sovereignty in the Far East, a high-ranking official in the General Staff of the armed forces said on Tuesday.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a meeting last week with Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Minister of Regional Development Viktor Basagrin said that military support with modern weaponry is a must for the security of the islands.
Four sparsely populated islands (Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Habomai) in the Kuril chain between Japan's northern island of Hokkaido and Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula were annexed by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II but are still claimed by Japan.
The dispute over the islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan, has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a formal peace treaty.
The General Staff official said that S-400 missile defense systems could be deployed to the islands to protect them from possible attacks.
Prior to Medvedev's visit to one of the disputed islands in November, Japan voiced its concerns saying the arrival of the Russian leader could complicate bilateral relations, but Russia's Foreign Ministry rejected Tokyo's attempts to change Medvedev's plans saying he "defines the routes of trips across his country on his own."
The visit was the first trip by a head of state of Russia or the former Soviet Union to the South Kuril Islands.
Soon after landing on Kunashir Island, Medevedev uploaded on his Twitter account a photograph of Kunashir's landscape made by him with the note: "There are so many picturesque places in Russia. Kunashir."
Speaking during a rally in Tokyo on February 8, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan called Medvedev's visit to the islands last November an "inexcusable rudeness," sparking an angry response from Moscow.
MOSCOW, February 15 (RIA Novosti)
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