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| Invasion of the Kuril Islands | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theSoviet–Japanese War | |||||||||
 Map of the invasion of the Kuril Islands | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Soviet Union |  Empire of Japan | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Aleksandr Ksenofontov Aleksei GnechkoDmitry Ponomarev |  Fusaki Tsutsumi  | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 15,000 troops[citation needed] | 80,000 troops[1] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| at least 962 killed[2] at least 1,026 wounded | at least 1,018 killed or wounded 50,422 surrendered | ||||||||
TheInvasion of the Kuril Islands (Russian:Курильская десантная операция,lit. 'Kuril Islands Landing Operation') was theWorld War II Soviet military operation to capture theKuril Islands fromJapan in 1945. The invasion, part of theSoviet–Japanese War, was decided on whenplans to land onHokkaido were abandoned. The successful military operations of theRed Army atMutanchiang and during theinvasion of South Sakhalin created the necessary prerequisites for invasion of the Kuril Islands.
The operation took place between 18 August and 1 September. The attack was made by the87th Rifle Corps (Guards Lieutenant General A. S. Ksenofontov) of the16th Army (Lieutenant GeneralLeonty Cheremisov) from the 2nd Far Eastern Front, and elements of theKamchatka Defense Area (Major General Alexey Gnechko commanding). Ships and transportation were drawn from thePetropavlovsk military base (CaptainDmitry Ponomarev). The 128th AviationDivision also provided support.
The islands were occupied by the Japanese 91st Infantry Division (Shiashkotan,Paramushir,Shumshu, andOnekotan),42nd Division (Simushir), 41st Independent Regiment (Matua), 129th Independent Brigade (Urup), and 89th Infantry Division (Iturup andKunashir). The Japanese commander wasLieutenant GeneralFusaki Tsutsumi.
Initial reconnaissance was undertaken on 18 August by a detachment of the 113th Separate Rifle Brigade (Captain-Lieutenant G. I. Brunshtein), carried by two mine trawlers (ТЩ-589 and ТЩ-590) to Rubetzu Bay on Iturup island. The landings on Iturup were continued by the355th Rifle Division, which also landed on the smaller island of Urup.
On 23 August, the 20,000-strong Japanese garrisons on the islands were ordered to surrender as part of the generalsurrender of Japan. However, some of the garrison forces ignored this order and continued to resist Soviet occupation.[7]
From 22 to 28 August, troops of the Kamchatka Defense Area occupied the Kuril Islands from Urup north.
On 1 September, elements of the 87th Rifle Corps were landed by torpedo boats, mine trawlers and transports (departing from Otomari) on Kunashir and Shikotan in the southern Kuril Islands. This was an assault landing against Japanese resistance. On 4 September, 87th Rifle Corps occupied five smaller islands (Sibotzu, Taraku-Shima, Uri-Shima, Akiuri, and Suiseto).[7]
After 4 September, Soviet forces occupied the rest of the Kuril Islands without further resistance.
The islands remained part of Russia after thedissolution of the Soviet Union, but their true legal status remains in question as part of theKuril Islands dispute between Russia and Japan.
