Russia plans to send warplanes to a disputed island near Japan

[TomSea]

Russia plans to send warplanes to a disputed island near Japan
Reuters

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has approved the deployment of Russian warplanes on a disputed island near Japan, accelerating the area's militarization at a time when Moscow's ties with Tokyo are strained over the roll-out of a US missile system.

In a decree published late on Thursday, Medvedev allowed the Russian Defence Ministry to use a civilian airport on the island of Iturup as it is known by Russia, or Etorofu as it is known by Japan, for its warplanes.

The island was one of four seized by Soviet forces at the end of World War Two and is located off the north-east coast of Hokkaido, Japan's biggest prefecture. The dispute over the islands, known as the Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, is so acrimonious that Moscow and Tokyo have not yet signed a peace treaty to mark the end of the war.

Read more at: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-russia-approves-warplane-deployment-on-disputed-island-near-japan-2018-2