Russians redeploy air defense systems from Kuril Islands to Ukraine

31 August, 2023 S-300V4. Photo from open sources Several anti-aircraft missile systems deployed by the Russians on the disputed islands of Iturup and Kunashir were relocated.

This was reported by the Japanese publication Kyodo News. Yu Koizumi, a lecturer at the University of Tokyo, did the analysis based on satellite images from Maxar Technologies. Koizumi believes that air defense systems could have been relocated to the European part of Russia for use in the war against Ukraine.

He is also confident that old tanks and artillery that were previously stored at a military facility in Sakhalin are being sent to the front in Ukraine.

Iturup and Kunashir islands. Photo credits: Google Earth

It is known that the Russians previously deployed S-300V4 anti-aircraft missile systems on these islands. Militarnyi reported the destruction of the S-300V4 SAM in the area of the village of Pryvillya.

Elements of the system were placed near Kasatka Bay and near the village of Yuzhno-Kurilsk. Troops from the Far East are also being deployed to Ukraine. According to Koizumi, the marine brigade based in Vladivostok suffered significant losses in the battles, and some residents of the islands of Iturup and Kunashir died after mobilization.

Elements of the S-300V4 SAM in the Kuril Islands.

Photo from open sources

"The Russian military is deploying all weapons at their disposal, which is evidence of their active engagement in the conflict," Koizumi said. Iturup and Kunashir are among four disputed islands that Japan calls its northern territories and are claimed by Russia, which calls them the Southern Kurils. On October 7, 2022, Ukraine recognized the southern Kuril Islands as the territory of Japan, which was occupied by the Russian Federation.

Recall that the US government agreed on the possible sale of JASSM-ER cruise missiles to Japan to arm F-15J multifunctional fighters.