Putin visits disputed Etorofu island off Hokkaido, sparking protest from Tokyo
Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first ever visit to one of the disputed islands off Hokkaido on Thursday. | Pool / via Reuters
STAFF REPORT
Aug 13, 2026
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the island of Etorofu on Thursday, according to a report by Russian news agency Tass.
Etorofu is among a group of islands off the east coast of Hokkaido that have been occupied by the former Soviet Union since the end of World War II and are claimed by Japan.
This is a developing story. Updates to follow.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information,
quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.
Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.