News Russia deploys defence missile system on Kuril island

Russia's defence ministry has deployed mobile coastal defence missile systems on Paramushir (幌筵島) - part of a strategically located chain of islands stretching between Japan and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula. The Russian Bastion missile systems, which have missiles with a flight range of up to 500 km, were deployed on the island of Paramushir in the northern portion of the Kuril Islands, the Russian defence ministry said on Monday. "Coastal servicemen of the Pacific Fleet will keep a round-the-clock watch to control the adjacent water area and strait zones," it said. The ministry said that a military camp was set up on Paramushir with conditions allowing for year-round service, accommodation, recreation and food for personnel. This deployment comes a year after Russia set up the Bastion systems on the island of Matua, in the central part of the Kuril ridge, the ministry said in a statement.

Japan gave up its claims to the Northern Kuril islands in 1951.

The Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a September report that, overshadowed by the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow's militarization of the Kuril Islands "has flown largely under the radar." "Russia's steps to boost its presence suggest that the islands will continue to play a pernicious role in the future of Russo-Japanese relations and that Japan and the United States should deepen consultations regarding Russia's activities in the region," according to the report, published on the centre's website.

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