MOSCOW: A Russian cabinet minister on August 5 visited one of the four islands at the center of the country’s decades-old territorial dispute with Japan, unveiling a stone monument demonstrating Moscow’s claim over the island.

Emergencies minister Yevgeny Zinichev visited the island of Kunashiri, as it is called by Japan, and attended a ceremony marking the launch of a new search-and-rescue center on the island.

The stone monument has a plate featuring a quote attributed to 19th century Russian Emperor Nikolai I, saying that the Russian flag, once raised at a certain place, should not be lowered.

At the ceremony, participants offered a moment of silence for Soviet troops who died in the battle against the former Japanese military on the Kuril Islands after Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration for its surrender in World War II in August 1945.

“We must always remember the war-dead and never forget their deeds,” Zinichev said.

The center was established to deal with natural disasters. It houses state-of-the-art facilities for monitoring the climate and earthquakes.

A similar center is expected to be opened shortly on Etorofu, another of the northwestern Pacific islands, collectively called the Northern Territories in Japan.

The administration of Russian President Vladimir Putin has hardened his stance over the disputed islands, putting into force the country’s revised constitution last month banning the government from ceding any of its territory to other nations. Kunashiri also hosts a monument that commemorates the anti-cession clause in the revised constitution.

The islands, under the effective control of Russia and claimed by Japan, were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of the war. The territorial row has been preventing Tokyo and Moscow from concluding a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities.

JIJI Press