- According to Moscow, "they will maintain a 24-hour surveillance to control the adjacent water and the areas of the strait."
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| Location of the island of Paramushir is located in the northern Kuril archipelago and is administered by Russia. / Google Maps |
Russia Deploys New Coastal Missiles to Kuril Islands
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Monday the deployment of a coastal missile system on the island of Paramushir, in the northern part of the Kuril Islands archipelago.
"The coastal missiles of the Pacific Fleet will maintain 24-hour surveillance to control the adjacent water and the strait areas," the Defense office reported, according to the Russian agency Tass.
The ministerial portfolio explained that an autonomous military camp has been installed on the island, which includes conditions for the service, accommodation, recreation, and food of the personnel throughout the year.
"For the operation and maintenance of the equipment, the equipment of the technical posts has been installed, the storage facilities for equipment and material resources have been deployed and the accesses to the exit posts have been enabled," the Ministry added.
About a year ago, on December 2, 2021, the Pacific Fleet indicated that it had deployed missiles—the same typology as on this occasion—on the neighboring island of Matua. Earlier, the Russian Army noted the creation of an airfield on the island.
The Kuril Islands are a small archipelago that is in historical dispute between Japan and Russia and is located between the Japanese island of Hokkaido and the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka.
Japan kept the islands in 1875 (Treaty of Saint Petersburg) in exchange for ceding the island of Sakhalin to Russia. The then Soviet Union occupied them after World War II (Treaty of San Francisco) and they were annexed to the USSR, but Tokyo maintains its claim over the southernmost islands: Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai, known in Japan as Territories from North.
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