To the root of the problem

One of the first documents regulating Russian-Japanese relations was the Shimoda Treaty, signed on January 26, 1855. According to the second article of the treatise, the border was established between the islands of Urup and Iturup - that is, all four islands now claimed by Japan today were recognized as the possession of Japan.

Since 1981, the date of the signing of the Shimoda Treaty has been celebrated in Japan as "Northern Territories Day". Another thing is that, relying on the Shimoda treatise as one of the fundamental documents, in Japan they forget about one important point. In 1904, Japan, having attacked the Russian squadron in Port Arthur and unleashed the Russo-Japanese War, itself violated the terms of the treaty, which provided for friendship and good neighborly relations between states.

The Shimoda treaty did not determine the ownership of Sakhalin, where both Russian and Japanese settlements were located, and by the mid-70s a solution to this issue was also ripe. The St. Petersburg Treaty was signed, which was ambiguously assessed by both parties. Under the terms of the treaty, all the Kuril Islands were now completely withdrawn to Japan, and Russia received full control over Sakhalin.

Then, following the results of the Russo-Japanese War, according to the Treaty of Portsmouth, Japan ceded the southern part of Sakhalin to the 50th parallel.

In 1925, the Soviet-Japanese Convention was signed in Beijing, generally confirming the terms of the Portsmouth Treaty. As is known, the late 1930s and early 1940s were extremely tense in Soviet-Japanese relations and were associated with a series of military conflicts of various scales.

The situation began to change by 1945, when the Axis began to suffer heavy defeats and the prospect of losing the Second World War became more and more obvious. Against this background, the question arose about the post-war structure of the world. So, according to the terms of the Yalta Conference, the USSR was obliged to enter the war against Japan, and South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands went to the Soviet Union.

True, at the same time, the Japanese leadership was ready to voluntarily cede these territories in exchange for the neutrality of the USSR and the supply of Soviet oil. The USSR did not take such a very slippery step. The defeat of Japan by that time was a matter of maybe not a quick, but still time. And most importantly, by refraining from decisive action, the Soviet Union would actually hand the situation in the Far East into the hands of the United States and its allies.

By the way, this also applies to the events of the Soviet-Japanese war and the Kuril landing operation itself, which was not originally prepared. When it became known about the preparations for the landing of American troops on the Kuriles, the Kuril landing operation was urgently prepared in a day. Fierce fighting in August 1945 ended with the surrender of the Japanese garrisons in the Kuriles.

Fortunately, the Japanese command did not know the real number of Soviet paratroopers and, without fully using their overwhelming numerical superiority, capitulated. At the same time, the South Sakhalin offensive operation was also carried out. So, at the cost of considerable losses, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands became part of the USSR.

Russia may call into question fishing by Japanese fishermen in the South Kuriles in case of further violations of fishing rules by Japan, the Russian Foreign Ministry says.

The Kuril Islands are a chain of volcanic islands between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the island of Hokkaido (Japan), which separate the Sea of ​​Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. They consist of two parallel ridges of islands - the Greater Kuril and the Lesser Kuril. The first information about the Kuril Islands was reported by the Russian explorer V.V. Atlases.

In 1745 most of Kuril Islands was marked on the "General Map of the Russian Empire" in the Academic Atlas.

In the 70s of the XVIII century in the Kuriles there were permanent Russian settlements under the command of the Irkutsk tradesman Vasily Zvezdochetov. On the map of 1809, the Kuriles and Kamchatka were attributed to the Irkutsk province. In the 18th century, the peaceful colonization by Russians of Sakhalin, the Kuriles and the northeast of Hokkaido was basically completed.

In parallel with the development of the Kuriles by Russia, the Japanese were advancing to the Northern Kuriles. Reflecting the Japanese onslaught, Russia in 1795 built a fortified military camp on the island of Urup.

By 1804 in the Kuriles, a dual power actually developed: in the Northern Kurils, the influence of Russia was more strongly felt, in the South - of Japan. But formally, all the Kuriles still belonged to Russia.

February 7, 1855 The first Russian-Japanese treaty was signed - the Treatise on Trade and Borders. He proclaimed relations of peace and friendship between the two countries, opened three Japanese ports for Russian ships and established a border in the South Kuriles between the islands of Urup and Iturup.

In 1875 Russia signed the Russo-Japanese treaty, according to which it ceded 18 Kuril Islands to Japan. Japan, in turn, recognized the island of Sakhalin as wholly owned by Russia.

From 1875 to 1945 The Kuril Islands were under the control of Japan.

February 11, 1945 between the leaders of the Soviet Union, the USA and Great Britain - I. Stalin, F. Roosevelt, W. Churchill signed an agreement according to which, after the end of the war against Japan, the Kuril Islands should be transferred to the Soviet Union.

September 2, 1945 Japan signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender, accepting the terms of the Potsdam Declaration of 1945, which limited its sovereignty to the islands of Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Hokkaido, as well as less large islands Japanese archipelago. The islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Khabomai went to the Soviet Union.

February 2, 1946 By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Kuril Islands Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Khabomai were included in the USSR.

September 8, 1951 At an international conference in San Francisco, a peace treaty was concluded between Japan and 48 countries participating in the anti-fascist coalition, according to which Japan renounced all rights, titles and claims to the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. The Soviet delegation did not sign this treaty, referring to the fact that it regards it as a separate agreement between the US and Japanese governments. From the point of view of treaty law, the question of the ownership of the South Kuriles remained uncertain. The Kuriles ceased to be Japanese, but did not become Soviet. Using this circumstance, Japan in 1955 presented the USSR with claims to all the Kuril Islands and the southern part of Sakhalin. As a result of two years of negotiations between the USSR and Japan, the positions of the parties drew closer: Japan limited its claims to the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup.

October 19, 1956 In Moscow, the Joint Declaration of the USSR and Japan was signed on ending the state of war between the two states and restoring diplomatic and consular relations. In it, in particular, the Soviet government agreed to the transfer of Japan after the conclusion of a peace treaty of the islands of Habomai and Shikotan.

After conclusion in 1960 of the Japanese-American security treaty, the USSR annulled the obligations assumed by the 1956 declaration.

During the Cold War, Moscow did not recognize the existence of a territorial problem between the two countries. The presence of this problem was first recorded in the Joint Statement of 1991, signed following the visit of the President of the USSR to Tokyo.

The Japanese side makes claims to the southern Kuril Islands, motivating them with references to the Russian-Japanese Treaty on Trade and Borders of 1855, according to which these islands were recognized as Japanese, and also that these territories are not part of the Kuril Islands, from which Japan refused under the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951.

In 1993 In Tokyo, the President of Russia and the Prime Minister of Japan signed the Tokyo Declaration on Russian-Japanese Relations, which recorded the agreement of the parties to continue negotiations with the aim of concluding a peace treaty as soon as possible by resolving the issue of ownership of the islands mentioned above.

In recent years, in order to create an atmosphere at the talks conducive to the search for mutually acceptable solutions, the parties have been paying great attention to establishing practical Russian-Japanese interaction and cooperation in the region of the islands. One of the results of this work was the beginning of the implementation in September 1999 of an agreement on the most facilitated procedure for visiting the islands by their former residents from among Japanese citizens and members of their families. Cooperation is being carried out in the fishery sector on the basis of the current Russian-Japanese Agreement on fishing near the southern Kuriles dated February 21, 1998.

The position of the Russian side on the issue of border delimitation is that the southern Kuril Islands passed to our country as a result of the Second World War on a legal basis in accordance with the agreements of the allied powers (Yalta Agreement of February 11, 1945, Potsdam Declaration of July 26, 1945 G.). Reaffirming its commitment to the previously reached agreements on holding negotiations on a peace treaty, including the issue of border delimitation, the Russian side emphasizes that the solution to this problem should be mutually acceptable, not damage the sovereignty and national interests of Russia, and receive the support of the public and the parliaments of both countries.

The islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge are several islands separated from the Greater Kuril Ridge by the South Kuril Strait.

Total area - 360.85 sq. km. In addition to six large ones (Shikotan - 264 sq. km and five smaller ones), it includes a number of small, nameless islands. The belonging of the entire ridge to Russia (they are part of the Sakhalin region) is disputed by Japan, which includes them in the Nemuro district of the governorate of Hokkaido.

Back in 2012, the authorities of the Sakhalin Region supported the initiative of the local branch of the Russian Geographical Society and sent an expedition to describe and "planned naming" of the small islands of the region. noted that geographers have many chances to find new islands rising above the sea due to volcanic activity.

In September 2012, the expedition visited three nameless islands (near Shikotan), which had numbers 8, 11 and 15 according to the Rosreestr list.

Even before going out to the open sea, the Russian Geographical Society decided what to name these geographical objects.

The first island was named after Sergei Kapitsa (1928-2012), a Russian physicist, son of Nobel laureate Pyotr Kapitsa. However, Kapitsa Jr. is better known not for his scientific and teaching activities, but for his active popularization of science. From 1973 until his death in August 2012, he was the permanent host of Obvious - Incredible, a TV show about science and technology.

The second island was named after Igor Fakhrutdinov, the governor of the Sakhalin region in 1996-2003. On August 20, 2003, a Mi-8 helicopter crashed in Kamchatka. All 17 passengers were killed, including the governor, his assistant Yuri Shuvalov, the head of the press center of the Sakhalin administration, Dmitry Donskoy, and three crew members.

Finally, island No. 15 was named after Alexei Gnechko (1900-1980), a Red Army commander who led the Kuril landing operation in 1945. Gnechko met World War II with the rank of division commander, commanded the defense of Kamchatka, and at the beginning of the Soviet offensive against the Japanese, it was his troops who took the island of Shumshu. It was one of the bloodiest operations of the Soviet-Japanese war (and the only one where the losses among Soviet soldiers and sailors exceeded those of the enemy), but after its successful completion, almost all Japanese garrisons in the Kuriles capitulated.

In October-November of the same 2012, the second expedition took place, with the same purpose of naming.

The area of ​​the marine expedition extended from the Bussol Strait to Shikotan Island on the Lesser Kuril Ridge, with the work of a hydrographic vessel on the Urup, Iturup, Shikotan Islands and the Lovtsova Peninsula of Kunashir Island. Then the scientists observed the Taira group (islands No. 18-21, in the northern tip of Urup Island). They failed to land because of the large swell.

But this did not stop them from proposing to name the islands in honor of Captain Anna Shchetinina, USSR Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Gromyko and the Chavycha steamer. Anna Ivanovna Shchetinina (1908 -1999) - the first woman in the world - sea captain, at the age of 27 she gained world fame for escorting the Chinook steamer along the Northern Sea Route from Odessa to Kamchatka in 58 days. Since the autumn of 1941, she made 17 flights with military cargo to Vladivostok from the USA.

Gromyko is directly related to the history of the Kuril Islands.

He was part of a group of people who prepared the Yalta (February 1945) and Potsdam (July 1945) conferences, during which decisions were made on the return of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to the USSR. Gromyko headed the USSR delegation at the negotiations on the formation of the UN.

The last of the islands mentioned in today's decree was surveyed by members of the Russian Geographical Society in 2014. It is located near Cape Sad (the northeastern tip of Anuchin Island), the Small Kuril Ridge). The area is about 200 sq. m. Expedition member Sergei Ponomarev suggested naming it after Lieutenant General Kuzma Derevyanko (1904-1954). After successful operations in the fight against Nazi Germany, the command sent Derevyanko as a representative of the High Command of the Soviet Forces in the Far East at the headquarters of General MacArthur. It was he who signed the act of surrender of Japan on behalf of the USSR. He died, by the way, because of the radiation he received while visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

It is curious that all these nameless objects got their name in the resolution of the Sakhalin Regional Duma on June 11, 2015. However, the Prime Minister approved them only now - and only for five of the fifteen objects.

23 , 14:08

The Kuril landing operation of the Red Army in the Kuriles entered the history of operational art. It was studied in many armies of the world, but almost all experts came to the conclusion that the Soviet landing forces had no prerequisites for an early victory. Success was ensured by the courage and heroism of the Soviet soldier. American failure in the Kuril Islands

On April 1, 1945, American troops, supported by the British Navy, landed on the Japanese island of Okinawa. The US command expected to seize a bridgehead for the landing of troops on the main islands of the empire with one lightning strike. But the operation lasted almost three months, and the losses among American soldiers were unexpectedly high - up to 40% of the personnel. The resources spent were incommensurable with the result and forced the US government to think about the Japanese problem. The war could last for years and cost the lives of millions of American and British soldiers. The Japanese, on the other hand, were convinced that they could resist for a long time and even put forward conditions for the conclusion of peace.

The Americans and the British were waiting for what the Soviet Union would do, which, at the Allied conference in Yalta, had committed itself to open hostilities against Japan.

The Western allies of the USSR had no doubt that the same long and bloody battles awaited the Red Army in Japan as in the West. But the commander-in-chief of the troops in the Far East, Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Vasilevsky did not share their opinion. On August 9, 1945, the Red Army went on the offensive in Manchuria and inflicted a crushing defeat on the enemy in just a few days.

On August 15, Emperor Hirohito of Japan was forced to announce his surrender. On the same day, American President Harry Truman drew up a detailed plan for the surrender of Japanese troops, and sent it for approval to the allies - the USSR and Great Britain. Stalin immediately drew attention to an important detail: the text did not say that the Japanese garrisons on the Kuril Islands should capitulate to the Soviet troops, although until recently the American government agreed that this archipelago should pass to the USSR. Considering that the rest of the points were spelled out in detail, it became clear that this was not an accidental mistake - the United States was trying to put the post-war status of the Kuriles in question.

Stalin demanded that the US President make an amendment, and drew attention to the fact that the Red Army intended to occupy not only all the Kuril Islands, but also part of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. It was impossible to rely only on Truman's goodwill; the troops of the Kamchatka defensive region and the Petropavlovsk naval base were ordered to land troops on the Kuril Islands.

Why countries fought for the Kuril Islands

From Kamchatka, in good weather, one could see Shumshu Island, which was only 12 kilometers from the Kamchatka Peninsula. This is the extreme island of the Kuril archipelago - a ridge of 59 islands, 1200 kilometers long. On the maps, they were designated as the territory of the Japanese Empire.

The development of the Kuril Islands by Russian Cossacks began in 1711. At that time, the belonging of this territory to Russia did not raise doubts among the international community. But in 1875, Alexander II decided to consolidate peace in the Far East and handed over the Kuriles to Japan in exchange for her refusal to claim Sakhalin. These peace-loving efforts of the emperor were in vain. After 30 years, the Russo-Japanese War nevertheless began, and the agreement became invalid. Then Russia lost and was forced to recognize the conquest of the enemy. Japan left not only the Kuriles, but it also received the southern part of Sakhalin.

The Kuril Islands are unsuitable for economic activity, so for many centuries they were considered practically uninhabited. There were only a few thousand inhabitants, mostly representatives of the Ainu. Fishing, hunting, subsistence farming - these are all sources of livelihood.

In the 1930s, rapid construction began on the archipelago, mainly military - airfields and naval bases. The Japanese Empire was preparing to fight for dominance in pacific ocean. The Kuril Islands were to become a springboard for both capturing Soviet Kamchatka and attacking American naval bases (the Aleutian Islands). In November 1941, these plans began to be implemented. It was the shelling of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. After 4 years, the Japanese managed to equip a powerful defense system on the archipelago. All available places for landing on the island were covered by firing points, there was a developed infrastructure underground.

The beginning of the Kuril landing operation

At the Yalta Conference in 1945, the Allies decided to take Korea under joint guardianship, and recognized the right of the USSR to the Kuril Islands. The United States even offered to help take possession of the archipelago. As part of the secret Hula Project, the Pacific Fleet received American landing craft.

On April 12, 1945, Roosevelt died, and the attitude towards the Soviet Union changed, as the new President Harry Truman was wary of the USSR. The new American government did not deny possible military operations in the Far East, and the Kuril Islands would become a convenient springboard for military bases. Truman sought to prevent the transfer of the archipelago to the USSR.

Due to the tense international situation, Alexander Vasilevsky (commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East) received an order: “using the favorable situation that developed during the offensive in Manchuria and on Sakhalin Island, occupy the northern group of the Kuril Islands. Vasilevsky did not know that such a decision was made due to the deterioration of relations between the US and the USSR. It was ordered to form a battalion of marines within 24 hours. The battalion was led by Timofey Pochtarev. There was little time to prepare the operation - only a day, the key to success was the close interaction of the forces of the army and navy. Marshal Vasilevsky decided to appoint Major General Alexei Gnechko as commander of the operation. According to the memoirs of Gnechko: “I was given complete freedom of initiative. And this is quite understandable: the command of the front and the fleet was a thousand kilometers away, and it was impossible to count on the immediate coordination and approval of my every order and order.

Naval artilleryman Timofey Pochtarev received his first combat experience back in the Finnish War. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he fought in the Baltic, defended Leningrad, and participated in the battles for Narva. He dreamed of returning to Leningrad. But fate and command decreed otherwise. The officer was assigned to Kamchatka, to the headquarters of the coastal defense of the Petropavlovsk naval base.

The most difficult was the first stage of the operation - the capture of the island of Shumshu. It was considered the northern gate of the Kuril archipelago, and Japan paid special attention to the fortification of Shumshu. 58 pillboxes and pillboxes could shoot through every meter of the coast. In total, there were 100 artillery installations, 30 machine guns, 80 tanks and 8.5 thousand soldiers on the island of Shumshu. Another 15 thousand were neighboring island Paramushir, and they could be transferred to Shumshu within a few hours.

The Kamchatka defensive region consisted of only one rifle division. Units were dispersed throughout the peninsula. All in one day, August 16, they had to be delivered to the port. In addition, it was impossible to transport the entire division through the first Kuril Strait - there were not enough ships. Soviet troops and sailors had to act in extremely difficult conditions. First, land on a well-fortified island, and then fight a superior enemy without military equipment. All hope was on the “surprise factor”.

The first stage of the operation

It was decided to land the Soviet troops between Capes Kokutai and Kotomari, and then capture the center of defense of the island, the Kataoka naval base, with a blow. In order to mislead the enemy and disperse forces, they planned a diversion strike - a landing in Nanagawa Bay. The day before the operation began shelling the island. The fire could not cause much harm, but General Gnechko set other goals - to force the Japanese to withdraw their troops from the coastal territory, where the landing of landing troops was planned. Part of the paratroopers under the leadership of Pochtarev became the core of the detachment. By nightfall, the loading onto the ships was completed. On the morning of August 17, the ships left Avacha Bay.

The commanders were instructed to observe radio silence and blackout. Weather were difficult - fog, because of this, the ships arrived at the place only at 4 am, although they planned at 11 pm. Because of the fog, some ships could not come close to the island, and the remaining meters of the Marines sailed, with weapons and equipment.

The advance detachment reached the island in full force, and at first they did not meet any resistance. Yesterday, the Japanese leadership withdrew troops deep into the island to protect them from shelling. Using the surprise factor, Major Pochtarev decided to capture enemy batteries at Cape Katamari with the help of his companies. He led this attack personally.

The second stage of the operation

The terrain was flat, so it was impossible to approach imperceptibly. The Japanese opened fire, the advance stopped. It remained to wait for the rest of the paratroopers. With great difficulty and under Japanese fire, the bulk of the battalion was brought to Shumshu, and the offensive began. The Japanese troops had by this time recovered from the panic. Major Pochtarev ordered to stop frontal attacks, and assault groups were formed in a combat situation.

After several hours of battle, almost all the pillboxes and bunkers of the Japanese were destroyed. The outcome of the battle was decided by the personal courage of Major Pochtarev. He stood up to his full height and led the soldiers behind him. Almost immediately he was wounded, but did not pay attention to her. The Japanese began to retreat. But almost immediately the troops pulled up again, and began a counterattack. General Fusaki ordered to recapture the dominant heights at any cost, then cut the landing forces into pieces and throw them back to the sea. Under the cover of artillery, 60 tanks went into battle. Ship strikes came to the rescue, and the destruction of the tanks began. Those vehicles that could break through were destroyed by the forces of the Marines. But the ammunition was already running out, and then horses came to the aid of the Soviet paratroopers. They were allowed to swim ashore, loaded with ammunition. Despite heavy shelling, most of the horses survived and delivered ammunition.

From the island of Paramushir, the Japanese transferred forces of 15 thousand people. The weather improved, and the Soviet planes were able to take off on a combat mission. The pilots attacked the piers and piers where the Japanese were unloading. While the forward detachment repelled the Japanese counteroffensive, the main forces launched a flank attack. By August 18, the island's defense system was completely broken. There was a turning point in the battle.

The fighting on the island continued with the onset of twilight - it was important not to allow the enemy to regroup, to bring up reserves. In the morning, the Japanese capitulated by flying a white flag.

After the storming of Shumshu Island

On the day of the landing on the island of Shumshu, Harry Truman recognized the USSR's right to the Kuriles. In order not to lose face, the United States demanded that the attack on Hokkaido be abandoned. Stalin left Japan its own territory.

Tsutsumi Fusaki delayed negotiations. He allegedly did not understand the Russian language and the document that needed to be signed.

On August 20, Pochtarev's detachment received a new order - to land on Paramushir Island. But Pochtarev no longer took part in the battle, he was sent to the hospital, and in Moscow they had already decided to give the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

When Soviet ships entered the second Kuril Strait, the Japanese suddenly opened fire in the crossfire. Then the Japanese kamikaze went on the attack. The pilot threw his car directly at the ship, firing continuously. But the Soviet anti-aircraft gunners thwarted the Japanese feat.

Upon learning of this, Gnechko again ordered to go on the attack - the Japanese hung out white flags. General Fusaki said that he had not given the order to fire on the ships and proposed to return to the discussion of the disarmament act. Fusaki fidgeted, but the general agreed to personally sign the disarmament act. He avoided even uttering the word "surrender" in every possible way, because for him, as a samurai, it was humiliating.

The garrisons of Urup, Shikotan, Kunashir and Paramushir capitulated without putting up resistance. It came as a surprise to the whole world that Soviet troops occupied the Kuriles in just one month. Truman approached Stalin with a request to locate American military bases, but was refused. Stalin understood that the US would try to gain a foothold if they got the territory. And he turned out to be right: the United States immediately after the war, Truman made every effort to include Japan in its sphere of influence. On September 8, 1951, a peace treaty was signed in San Francisco between Japan and the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. The Japanese abandoned all conquered territories, including Korea. According to the text of the treaty, the Ryukyu archipelago was transferred to the UN, in fact, the Americans established their own protectorate. Japan also renounced the Kuril Islands, but the text of the agreement did not say that the Kuril Islands were transferred to the USSR. Andrei Gromyko, Deputy Foreign Minister (at that time), refused to put his signature on a document with such wording. The Americans refused to amend the peace treaty. This is how a legal incident turned out: de jure they ceased to belong to Japan, but their status was never fixed.

In 1946, the northern islands of the Kuril archipelago became part of the South Sakhalin region. And it was undeniable.

Briefly, the history of the "belonging" of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island is as follows.

1.In period 1639-1649. Russian Cossack detachments led by Moskovitinov, Kolobov, Popov explored and began to explore Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. At the same time, Russian pioneers repeatedly swim to the island of Hokkaido, where they are peacefully met by local natives of the Ainu people. The Japanese appeared on this island a century later, after which they exterminated and partially assimilated the Ainu.

2.B 1701 Cossack constable Vladimir Atlasov reported to Peter I about the "subordination" of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to the Russian crown, leading to the "wonderful Nipon kingdom."

3.B 1786. by order of Catherine II, a register of Russian possessions in the Pacific Ocean was produced, bringing the register to the attention of all European states as a declaration of Russia's rights to these possessions, including Sakhalin and the Kuriles.

4.B 1792. By decree of Catherine II, the entire ridge of the Kuril Islands (both Northern and Southern), as well as Sakhalin Island officially incorporated into the Russian Empire.

5. As a result of the defeat of Russia in the Crimean War 1854—1855 gg. under pressure England and France Russia forced was concluded with Japan on February 7, 1855. Treaty of Shimoda, through which Japan transmitted four southern islands Kuril ridge: Khabomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup. Sakhalin remained undivided between Russia and Japan. At the same time, however, the right of Russian ships to enter Japanese ports was recognized, and "permanent peace and sincere friendship between Japan and Russia" was proclaimed.

6.May 7, 1875 under the Petersburg Treaty, the tsarist government as a very strange act of "good will" makes incomprehensible further territorial concessions to Japan and transfers to it 18 more small islands of the archipelago. In return, Japan finally recognized Russia's right to the whole of Sakhalin. It is for this agreement referred most of all by the Japanese today, slyly silent that the first article of this treaty reads: "... and henceforth eternal peace and friendship will be established between Russia and Japan" ( the Japanese themselves violated this treaty in the 20th century repeatedly). Many Russian statesmen of those years sharply condemned this “exchange” treaty as short-sighted and harmful to the future of Russia, comparing it with the same short-sightedness as the sale of Alaska to the United States of America in 1867 for next to nothing (7 billion 200 million dollars). ), saying that "now we are biting our own elbows."

7. After the Russo-Japanese War 1904—1905 gg. followed another stage of humiliation of Russia. By Portsmouth peace treaty concluded on September 5, 1905, Japan received the southern part of Sakhalin, all the Kuril Islands, and also took away from Russia the right to lease the naval bases of Port Arthur and Dalniy. When Russian diplomats reminded the Japanese that all these provisions are contrary to the 1875 treaty g., those arrogantly and arrogantly answered : « War cancels all treaties. You have failed and let's proceed from the current situation ". Reader, remember this boastful declaration of the invader!

8. Next comes the time of punishment of the aggressor for his eternal greed and territorial expansion. Signed by Stalin and Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference February 10, 1945 G. " Agreement on the Far East"It was envisaged:" ... 2-3 months after the surrender of Germany, the Soviet Union will enter the war against Japan subject to the return to the Soviet Union of the southern part of Sakhalin, all the Kuril Islands, as well as the restoration of the lease of Port Arthur and Dalny(these built and equipped hands of Russian workers, soldiers and sailors back in the late XIX - early XX centuries. very comfortable on their own geographic location naval bases were donated to "fraternal" China. But these bases were so necessary for our fleet in the 60-80s of the rampant Cold War and intense combat service of the fleet in remote areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. I had to equip the forward base Cam Ranh in Vietnam for the fleet from scratch).

9.B July 1945 g. in accordance with Potsdam Declaration heads of the victorious countries the following verdict was passed regarding the future of Japan: "The sovereignty of Japan shall be limited to four islands: Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku, Honshu, and such as WE SPECIFY". August 14, 1945 the Japanese government has publicly confirmed the acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, and on September 2 Japan unconditionally surrendered. Article 6 of the Instrument of Surrender reads: "... the Japanese government and its successors will faithfully fulfill the terms of the Potsdam Declaration to give such orders and take such actions as the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Powers shall require in order to carry out this declaration...”. January 29, 1946 Commander-in-Chief General MacArthur DEMANDED by Directive No. 677: "The Kuril Islands, including Habomai and Shikotan, are excluded from the jurisdiction of Japan." AND only after that legal effect, a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 2, 1946 was issued, which read: “ All lands, bowels and waters of Sakhalin and the Kul Islands are the property of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ". Thus, the Kuril Islands (both Northern and Southern), as well as about. Sakhalin, legally And were returned to Russia in accordance with international law . This could put an end to the "problem" of the Southern Kuriles and stop all further verbiage. But the story of the Kuriles continues.

10. After the end of World War II US occupied Japan and turned it into their military foothold in the Far East. In September 1951 USA, UK and a number of other states (total 49) signed San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan, prepared in violation of the Potsdam agreements without the participation of the Soviet Union . Therefore, our government did not join the treaty. However, Art. 2, chapter II of this treaty, it is fixed in black and white: “ Japan renounces all legal grounds and claims ... to the Kuril Islands and that part of Sakhalin and the islands adjacent to it over which Japan acquired sovereignty under the Treaty of Portsmouth of September 5, 1905. However, even after this, the story with the Kuriles does not end.

October 11.19 1956 d. the government of the Soviet Union, following the principles of friendship with neighboring states, signed with the Japanese government joint declaration, according to which the state of war between the USSR and Japan ended and peace, good neighborliness and friendly relations were restored between them. When signing the Declaration as a gesture of good will and no more promised to give Japan the two southernmost islands of Shikotan and Habomai, but only after the conclusion of a peace treaty between the countries.

12. However The United States after 1956 imposed a number of military agreements on Japan, replaced in 1960 by a single "Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security", according to which US troops remained on its territory, and thereby the Japanese islands turned into a base of aggression against the Soviet Union. In connection with this situation, the Soviet government announced to Japan that it was impossible to transfer the promised two islands to it.. And in the same statement it was emphasized that according to the declaration of October 19, 1956, "peace, good neighborliness and friendly relations" between the countries were established. Therefore, an additional peace treaty may not be required.
Thus, the problem of the Southern Kuriles does not exist . It's been decided a long time ago. AND de jure and de facto the islands belong to Russia . In this regard, it might be to remind the Japanese of their arrogant statement in 1905 g., and also indicate that Japan was defeated in World War II and therefore has no rights to any territory, even to her ancestral lands, except for those granted to her by the victors.
AND our foreign ministry just as harshly, or in a milder diplomatic form it would be necessary to declare this to the Japanese and put an end to this, FOREVER stopping all negotiations and even conversations on this non-existent and humiliating problem of the dignity and authority of Russia.
And again the "territorial question"

However, starting from 1991 , repeatedly held meetings of the President Yeltsin and members of the Russian government, diplomats with government circles in Japan, during which the Japanese side every time importunately raises the question of the "Northern Japanese Territories".
Thus, in the Tokyo Declaration 1993 signed by the President of Russia and the Prime Minister of Japan, was again acknowledged the "existence of the territorial issue", and both sides promised to "make efforts" to resolve it. The question arises - could our diplomats really know that such declarations should not be signed, because the recognition of the existence of a “territorial issue” is contrary to the national interests of Russia (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “ Treason»)??

As for the peace treaty with Japan, it is de facto and de jure in accordance with the Soviet-Japanese Declaration of October 19, 1956. not really needed. The Japanese do not want to conclude an additional official peace treaty, and there is no need. He Japan needs more, as the side that was defeated in the Second World War, rather than Russia.

A citizens of Russia should know the “problem” of the South Kuriles, sucked from the finger , her exaggeration, periodic hype in the media around her and the litigation of the Japanese - there a consequence of Japan's illegitimate claims in violation of the obligations it has assumed, to strictly comply with the international obligations recognized and signed by it. And such a constant desire of Japan to reconsider the ownership of many territories in the Asia-Pacific region pervades Japanese politics throughout the 20th century.

Why the Japanese, one might say, have seized the South Kuriles with their teeth and are trying to seize them again illegally? But because the economic and military-strategic importance of this region is extremely great for Japan, and even more so for Russia. This an area of ​​colossal seafood riches(fish, living creatures, marine animals, vegetation, etc.), deposits of minerals, and rare earth minerals, energy sources, mineral raw materials.

For example, January 29 of this year. short information slipped through the Vesti (RTR) program: a a large deposit of the rare earth metal Rhenium(75th element in the periodic table, and the only one in the world ).
Scientists allegedly calculated that it would be enough to invest only 35 thousand dollars, but the profit from the extraction of this metal will allow to bring the whole of Russia out of the crisis in 3-4 years . Apparently, the Japanese know about this and that is why they are so persistently attacking the Russian government with a demand to give them the islands.

It must be said that for 50 years of ownership of the islands, the Japanese have not built or created anything capital on them, except for light temporary buildings. Our border guards had to rebuild barracks and other buildings at the outposts. The entire economic "development" of the islands, which the Japanese are shouting to the whole world today, consisted in the predatory robbery of the riches of the islands . During the Japanese "development" from the islands rookeries of fur seals, habitats of sea otters disappeared . Part of the population of these animals our Kuril residents have already restored .

Today, the economic situation of this entire island zone, like the whole of Russia, is difficult. Of course, significant measures are needed to support this region and take care of the Kuril people. According to the calculations of a group of deputies of the State Duma, it is possible to extract on the islands, as reported in the program "Parliamentary Hour" (RTR) on January 31 of this year, only fish products up to 2000 tons per year, with a net profit of about 3 billion dollars.
In military terms, the ridge of the Northern and Southern Kuriles with Sakhalin constitutes a complete closed infrastructure of the strategic defense of the Far East and the Pacific Fleet. They enclose the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and turn it into an inland one. This is the area deployment and combat positions of our strategic submarines.

Without the South Kuriles, we will get a "hole" in this defense. Control over the Kuriles ensures free access of the fleet to the ocean, because until 1945 our Pacific Fleet, starting from 1905, was practically locked up in its bases in Primorye. The means of detection on the islands provide long-range detection of air and surface enemy, the organization of anti-submarine defense of the approaches to the passages between the islands.

In conclusion, one should note such a feature in the relationship of the Russia-Japan-US triangle. It is the United States that confirms the "legitimacy" of the ownership of the islands of Japan in spite of all international treaties they have signed .
If so, then our Foreign Ministry has every right, in response to the claims of the Japanese, to propose that they demand the return of Japan to its "southern territories" - the Caroline, Marshall and Mariana Islands.
These archipelagos former colonies of Germany, captured by Japan in 1914. Japan's dominion over these islands was sanctioned by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. After the defeat of Japan, all these archipelagos came under US control.. So Why shouldn't Japan demand that the United States return the islands to her? Or lack of spirit?
As you can see, there is explicit double standard in Japanese foreign policy.

And one more fact that clarifies the general picture of the return of our Far Eastern territories in September 1945 and the military significance of this region. The Kuril operation of the 2nd Far Eastern Front and the Pacific Fleet (August 18 - September 1, 1945) provided for the liberation of all the Kuril Islands and the capture of the island of Hokkaido.

The accession of this island to Russia would be of great operational and strategic importance, since it would ensure the complete isolation of the "fencing" of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk by our island territories: the Kuriles - Hokkaido - Sakhalin. But Stalin canceled this part of the operation, saying that with the liberation of the Kuriles and Sakhalin, we had resolved all our territorial issues in the Far East. A we don't need foreign land . In addition, the capture of Hokkaido will cost us a lot of blood, unnecessary losses of sailors and paratroopers in the most last days war.

Stalin here showed himself to be a real statesman, taking care of the country, its soldiers, and not an invader, who coveted foreign territories that were very accessible in that situation for the capture.