A submerged Russian submarine on Tuesday has successfully launched a Kalibr cruise missile from the Sea of Japan at a target more than 1,000 kilometres away, located at a Russian training ground onshore.

The drill also involved covert movement and support from military ships, aircraft and drones, as per the Russia's Pacific Navy statement.

“The Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky launched a cruise missile of the Kalibr complex at a ground target from a submerged position in the Sea of Japan. At the estimated time, the missile hit the coastal target position on the tactical field of Surkum [in the Khabarovsk region]. The firing range exceeded 1,000 kilometers,” the Russian Navy’s Pacific Fleet said in a statement.

Japan lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril islands in the nearby Sea of Okhotsk, which Tokyo refers to as the Northern Territories in a territorial row dating from the end of World War Two, when Soviet troops seized them from Japan. The dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a formal peace treaty.

The disputed islands of Iturup (Etorofu in Japanese), Kunashir (Kunashiri), Shikotan and Habomai lie at their closest point just a few kilometres off the north coast of Hokkaido in Japan. They are the southernmost islands in a volcanic chain that separates the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean.

They are located to the southeast of the Russian island of Sakhalin and are administratively part of the same region, although Tokyo considers them part of its Hokkaido prefecture and “illegally occupied by Russia”.

After numerous meetings over the past few years between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin, they have launched various economic projects on the islands in areas such as the farming of fish and shellfish, wind-generated energy and tourism.

Since 2017, the two countries have also agreed on charter flights for Japanese former inhabitants to visit family graves there. The islands are rich in hot springs and minerals and rare metals such as rhenium, which is used in the production of supersonic aircraft.

Image Courtesy: Al Jazeera