According to Russian media, Putin visited a fish factory where he was treated to caviar. He traveled to the Kurils after a visit to the nearby Russian island of Sakhalin, where the Russian navy was conducting military exercises.
Japan, whose relations with Russia have deteriorated since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, did not appreciate the visit.
"The Northern Territories ... are an inalienable part of Japan's territory, both historically and under international law, and the Japanese government strongly protests this visit," Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said in a statement.
“Northern Territories” is Japan’s name for the southern islands of the Kuril Islands.
Relations between Russia and Japan have long been tense over the disputed islands, which have alternately belonged to both countries throughout history.
The Soviet Union took over the strategically located volcanic archipelago north of Japan in the final days of World War II, and the Moscow regime has had a military presence there ever since.
Japan and the then Soviet Union never signed a formal peace treaty after World War II. One of the biggest obstacles was the unresolved issue of the Kuril Islands.
