00:00Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited the far eastern Kuril Islands for the first time on Thursday,
00:07prompting strong protests from Japan, which also claims the territory.
00:11Japan's top diplomat Toshimitsu Motegi slammed the visit,
00:15stressing that the islands, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories,
00:19are inherently theirs, both historically and under international law.
00:24Russian state media posted videos of Putin on Iturub,
00:27the largest of the disputed islands, visiting a school, a hospital,
00:31and a fish processing complex, where he sampled caviar.
00:35The Russian leader's stop came after a brief visit to Sakhalin,
00:39a nearby Russian island where the Navy was conducting drills.
00:43In Sakhalin, Putin held a meeting on quote,
00:46ensuring the security of Russia's eastern borders.
00:50The Kuril Archipelago was seized by Russia in August 1945,
00:53just days after the Soviet Union declared war on Japan in the dying stretch of World War II.
01:00The mineral-rich islands have grown in strategic importance to the Kremlin,
01:04providing them with military bases and fishing grounds.
01:08The islands were previously home to some 17,000 Japanese,
01:12whom Russia deported shortly after annexation,
01:15and are today home to around 20,000 Russian citizens.
01:19Relations between Moscow and Tokyo have remained sour since,
01:22especially after Russia sought closer ties with China and North Korea,
01:26whom Tokyo has had turbulent relations with.
01:29The last visit by a Kremlin head of state to the islands was back in 2010,
01:34by then-President Dmitry Medvedev,
01:37who later revisited several times as prime minister.
01:41The last visit by a Kremlin head of state to the islands was back in 2010,
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