By building a network of reconnaissance stations on the Kuril Islands, Russia is “subtly hinting” to Japan that its anti-Russian policy and support for Ukraine will have consequences for Tokyo. This was reported by the South China Morning Post newspaper.
“Moscow wants to demonstrate to Japan that moves to support Kiev will have consequences and that they are not in Tokyo’s interest,” James Brown, a professor at the Department of International Relations at Temple University’s Tokyo campus, told SCMP in a commentary.
According to the newspaper, a weakening of Japan’s zeal to support Ukraine would be a coup for Russia. Moreover, the Kuril Islands are of strategic importance for Moscow to ensure the security of the region.
For his part, Garren Malloy, professor of international relations at Daito Bunka University and a specialist in military affairs, emphasised that the importance of the Kurils to Russia goes “far beyond any military bases they build there”.
“These bases will become the eyes and ears pointed to the north of Japan, so that Russia can be aware of what the Japanese are doing by analysing their radar signals, and therefore what the allied US is doing,” Garren Mulloy stated.
In addition, the military expert emphasised that Russia has come to regard the Sea of Okhotsk as its own exclusive territory. In his opinion, this is important because Moscow can almost guarantee that it is “free from foreign submarines of any other country”.
We would like to remind you that earlier Russian Ambassador to Japan Nikolai Nozdrev said on the eve of Victory Day that Japan’s political establishment seeks to present its own history in a false light, levelling “uncomfortable topics and black pages” of the past.