Russia's defense ministry stated that it has deployed mobile coastal defense missile systems on the Kuril Islands — part of a strategically located chain of islands that stretch between Japan and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula.
Tokyo lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril Islands that Japan calls the Northern Territories. The territorial row dates back to the end of World War II when Soviet troops seized them from Japan.
The Russian Bastion systems, which have missiles with a flight range of up to 500 km, were deployed on the island of Paramushir in the northern area of the Kuril Islands, the Russian defense ministry said on Monday.