Japan protests Russian missile tests off disputed islands

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan said Friday that it lodged a protest with Russia after its notification that it planned to conduct missile tests off disputed islands visited by President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.

“We lodged a protest in response to the notification about the plan to conduct a missile test” off the Kuril islands, known as the Northern Territories by Japan, a Japanese government spokesman told Agence France-Presse.

Japanese news agency Kyodo quoted Russia’s Pacific Fleet as saying that it had already conducted the missile test, although it was unclear when it took place.

The Russian naval fleet said a unit equipped with the Bastion surface-to-ship missile system conducted the test, Kyodo reported.

The guided missile cruiser Varyag, the flagship of the Pacific Fleet, also took part in the test, along with the Omsk nuclear-powered submarine, the news agency said.

The test simulated an attack on enemy vessels and succeeded in hitting all the intended targets at a range of at least 300 kilometers, the fleet added, according to Kyodo.

Putin made his first official visit to the islands, administered by Russia since 1945, on 13 August, prompting Japan to summon Russia’s ambassador, a move then reciprocated by Moscow.

Putin went there after visiting the nearby Russian island of Sakhalin, where Russia’s navy was conducting drills.