Russia to upgrade forces on islands claimed by Japan

Feb 14, 2012, 10:59 GMT

Moscow - Russian forces based on two Pacific Ocean islands claimed by Japan will receive major upgrades in air defence weaponry and infrastructure, a senior general said on Tuesday.

Detection equipment on Kunashir and Iturup, two islands which Russia has controlled since the end of World War II, will be fully modernised and hundreds of troops based there will receive new housing, said Nikolai Makarov, head of the Russian army general staff, at a Moscow press conference.

'During 2013 we complete a total overhaul of these two bases,' Makarov said, according to an Interfax news agency report. 'We will begin work this summer.'

Russia intends to make forces in the region capable of responding to 'all forms of scenarios ... under all conditions,' Makarov said.

The Russian army commander's statement came one week after long-range Russian bombers began a series of approaches to Japanese and South Korean airspace, prompting the two countries to launch more than a dozen fighters to track the Russian aircraft.

Kunashir and Iturup are the two south-most islands of the Kuril Island chain. Russia uses radars and other detection equipment on the islands, along with air and sea patrols sent from local bases, to monitor the Sea of Japan and surrounding regions.

Japan considers Kunashir and Iturup part of its northern Hokkaido province.

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