[ISL] Three links on the Kuril Islands

[rfmcdonald]

Russo-Japanese jockeying over the Kuril Islands--the once-Japanese islands in the Sea of Okhotsk annexed by the Soviet Union at the end of the Second World War, and under Russian control to this day--has produced some interesting posts over the past month about those islands. Me, my opinion remains what it was before: it's somewhat ludicrous for a former Axis power to still be complaining about its territorial losses, counterproductive in terms of hoping to avoid isolation in East Asia vis-a-vis a rising China and South Korea, and ultimately hypocritical on Japan's part given its continuing claims to Korea's Dokdo islands on incomparably weaker grounds.

Arctic Progress blogged about Russia's preemptive military deployments to the Kuril Islands.

On Feb 9th, President Medvedev held a meeting with the Defense Minister and the Minister for Regional Development, giving instructions to improve regional defense capacities into order to guarantee Russian sovereignty over the Kurils.

A source in the Defense Ministry told RIA Novosti that the first two of the four Mistral helicopter carriers that Russia has acquired from France are to be deployed to the Pacific Fleet. This is to be accompanied by modernization of the regional 18th Division, and the addition of two S-400 “Triumf” SAM divisions, self-propelled Pantsyr-S1 air defense systems, several modern radar stations, and a Bastion P coastal defense system armed with Yakhont anti-ship missiles. Afterwards there are plans to construct an air base on the islands, with Su-35 fighters and anti-submarine aircraft.

Nonetheless, as noted by Nikolai Tulaev, a member of the Federation Council on Defense and Security, even after the military upgrades the Kurils will remain far less militarized than under the Soviet period.

At Beyond the Beyond, meanwhile, Bruce Sterling noted that his favourite ex-spy Anna Chapman is going to pay a visit to the Kuril Islands for a television program of hers.

Former spy Anna Chapman turned TV host will arrive on the disputed Kuril Islands in March to hoist the Russian flag and make a film about the life of local residents, Russian media have reported.

Chapman will be part of the delegation of the youth arm of Russia's ruling United Russia party, Molodaya Gvardia (Young Guard). She was named a member of the group's public council in late December.

The group plans to open its headquarters on Kunashir, the second-largest of the four islands disputed between Russia and Japan. Chapman has been tasked with hoisting the Russian flag on the island, which is well seen from Japan.

Finally, Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait photoblogs the terrifyingly inhospitable-looking Kuril island of Shikotan. (Well, he posts an image; the taker wasn't his satellite.