Kremlin denounces Japan’s sovereignty claim over disputed islands

Moscow says the four islands, which lie between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean, are ‘Russian territory’.

The Kremlin has denounced a claim by Japan’s new prime minister that Japan’s sovereignty extends to a chain of islands disputed by Tokyo and Moscow.

While Moscow regards the archipelago that separates the Sea of Okhotsk and Pacific Ocean as its own, Tokyo says its four southernmost islands belong to Japan.

The disputed islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai lie at their closest point just a few kilometres off the north coast of Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands.