The ISW has identified the true purpose of Putin's visit to Iturup
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s unexpected visit to Iturup Island was likely not only a symbolic gesture but also a response to Japan’s increasingly assertive defense policy.
On August 13, Putin visited Iturup for the first time—the largest island in the Kuril Archipelago, which Japan claims.
During the trip, he held a series of meetings, including with Sakhalin Oblast Governor Valery Limarenko, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Pacific Fleet Admiral Viktor Liin, Sergey Makhorin, head of the FSB Border Service in Sakhalin Oblast; and Alexey Shvedov, acting commander of the 68th Guards Army Corps of the Eastern Military District.
Units of the 68th Corps are participating in combat operations against Ukraine in the Oleksandrivka sector.
The ISW believes that Putin’s trip to the islands disputed with Japan was likely the Kremlin’s response to Japan’s new Defense White Paper.
The document was released in early August 2026. It identifies Russia as one of the critical threats to Japan’s security and emphasizes the need to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities.
Putin criticized the Japanese document and stated the need to “ensure security” along “all of its borders and across all of its territories.”
ISW analysts link these statements to the Russian Federation’s increased military activity near Japan. The Japanese White Paper, in particular, mentions frequent Russian air operations, which regularly force the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force to scramble fighter jets.
Thus, the visit to Iturup may have been a signal to Tokyo amid the escalating security situation in the region.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi strongly condemned Putin’s trip and once again reaffirmed Tokyo’s territorial claims to the Kuril Islands.
According to her, the Russian leader’s visit is “incompatible with Japan’s consistent position” regarding the ownership of these territories.
Russia and Japan have yet to sign a peace treaty following the end of World War II. The territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands, which Japan refers to as the Northern Territories, remains unresolved.
This is according to a report by analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
As a reminder, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin visited Iturup Island in the Kuril Archipelago for the first time; the island is the subject of a territorial dispute between Russia and Japan. Tokyo has already reacted to the Russian leader’s trip and lodged a strong protest with Moscow.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed that Russians supposedly possess a “genetic code of a winner.”
Tokyo plans to consider countermeasures following Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s visit to one of the Kuril Islands. Japan considers the archipelago its own territory, which Russia also claims.
