Russia redeploying air defenses from Kuril Islands to Ukraine — report
Moscow is pulling its anti-aircraft missile systems from two of the Kuril Islands, presumably to deploy them in the war against Ukraine, Japanese outlet Kyodo News reported on Aug. 31.
This report cites a statement made by Professor Yu Koizumi of Tokyo University.
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The expert has analyzed satellite images of the area which show a significant amount of anti-aircraft missile systems have been removed from the islands of Iturup and Kunashir.
Koizumi also notes that the Russian military has removed old tanks and artillery from the island of Sakhalin for deployment in Ukraine.
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According to Kyodo News, units of the Russian Armed Forces with anti-aircraft missile systems S-300 used to be stationed on the island of Iturup, as well as in the city of Yuzhno-Kurilsk on the island of Kunashir.
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As the media outlet reports, Koizumi presumes that these anti-aircraft missile systems have been relocated to western Russia. Once there, they could be prepared for deployment to Ukraine.
On Oct., 2022, the Ukrainian parliament appealed to the international community to recognize the Kuril Islands as Russia-occupied territory.
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