Russia approves warplane deployment on disputed island near Japan
2018-02-04 10:02:01 source：Asahi Shimbun
February 3, 2018
MOSCOW -- Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has approved the deployment of Russian warplanes on a disputed island near Japan, accelerating the area's militarization at a time when Moscow's ties with Tokyo are strained over the roll-out of a U.S. missile system.
In a decree published late on Thursday, Medvedev allowed the Russian Defense Ministry to use a civilian airport on the island of Iturup, as it is known by Russia, or Etorofu, as it is called in Japan, for its warplanes.
The island was one of four seized by Soviet forces at the end of World War II and is located off the northeastern coast of Hokkaido. The dispute over the islands, known as the Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, is so acrimonious that Moscow and Tokyo have not yet signed a peace treaty to mark the end of the war.
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