Russia stages military parade on far eastern island of Sakhalin/ военный парад на острове Сахалин

• published: 02 Sep 2015
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Russia staged a provocative military parade on a chain of disputed Pacific islands on Wednesday (September 2) to commemorate the end of World War Two, further straining relations with Japan over the contested territory. The decades-old argument over the islands - known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and referred to as the Northern Territories in Japan - could set back efforts to build ties between Moscow and Tokyo at a time when Russia has been spurned by Japan's western allies over its role in the Ukraine crisis. Modern Russian APCs, rocket launchers, tanks and other combat vehicles drove through the heart of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk city on Sakhalin island to the sounds of Soviet-time military songs. Soviet forces occupied the four islands in the last days of World War Two and the dispute has kept Russia and Japan from signing a formal peace treaty. Russia has since built up military facilities on the islands and laid claim to the seabed and natural resources in the central part of the Okhotsk Sea which separates the Kuriles from the Russian mainland. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously said he is ready to discuss the dispute but blamed Japan for a lack of dialogue. A visit by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to the Iturup island in August prompted Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida to delay a planned visit to Russia. Russia plans to at least double oil and gas flows to Asia in the next 20 years and Japan has been forced to resort to huge fuel imports to replace lost nuclear energy, after its reactors were shut down because of the 2011 Fukushima disaster