Soviet Union Leader Putin comments on attack by Russia in World War II on Japan
In a significant statement made on August 19, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted the critical role of the Soviet Union in ending World War II, particularly in the control of the Kuril Islands. The statement was released during a ceremony on Shumshu island, located at the northeastern end of the disputed islands.
The Soviet Union's control of the Kuril Islands, which includes four islands claimed by Japan, was a result of the Soviet Union fulfilling its duty as one of the Allied powers. According to Putin, this action was in accordance with the agreements made at the Yalta Conference with the United States and Britain.
The attack on the Japanese island followed an agreement made at the Yalta Conference, and it occurred after Japan's surrender in World War II. It was the last military action the Soviet Union undertook in the war, establishing control that still influences postwar territorial arrangements in the region.
The statement reaffirms Russia's position that the Soviet actions in the Kuril Islands were legitimate Allied operations and not acts of aggression post-surrender. Putin described the takeover as a "liberation" of the islands, a term not previously associated with the Soviet Union's control of the Kuril Islands.
The persistent geopolitical tension surrounding the Kuril Islands remains a significant factor in Russo-Japanese relations. The sovereignty of the islands, which were taken control of by the Soviet Union after World War II on September 5, 1945, remains disputed between Russia and Japan more than seven decades later.
The Soviet Union's control of the Kuril Islands was a critical episode of World War II, forcing Japan’s Emperor Hirohito towards surrender and helping end hostilities. The Kuril Islands campaign accompanied the Allied atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the looming threat of Operation Downfall (the planned Allied invasion of Japan).
[1] Tass News Agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin's Statement on the 80th Anniversary of the Soviet Attack on a Japanese Island, 19 August 2020. [2] History.com Editors, World War II: End of the War in the Pacific, History.com, 2021. [3] The Diplomat, The Soviet Union and the Kuril Islands: A Brief History, The Diplomat, 2019.
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