Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine (February 24, 2022), Western countries imposed a barrage of sanctions on Putin in an attempt to deter further violence. The only Asian country to impose sanctions was Japan, a nation that has its own history of conflict with Russia stretching back to the Russo-Japanese War of 1904/5, the Battle of Khalkin-Gol in 1939 and finally the Soviet-Japanese War in late 1945. Japan and the U.S.S.R (later Russia) never signed a peace deal following the Second World War, given a dispute over 4 islands in the Kuril Archipelago situated to the north of the Japanese Island of Hokkaido. The recent conflict in Ukraine has triggered a new tone from Japanese politicians in claiming the islands which are still administered by Russia.
Though all of the islands lie under Russian administration, Japan claims the four southernmost islands, including two of the three largest ones (Iturup and Kunashir), as part of its territory as well as Shikotan and the Habomai islets, which has led to the ongoing Kuril Islands dispute. The disputed islands are known in Japan as the country's "Northern Territories". In 2018, Russo-Japanese talks on resolving the dispute resumed.
There are 56 islands and many minor rocks. The Kuril Islands consist of the Greater Kuril Chain and the Lesser Kuril Chain. They cover an area of around 10,503.2 square kilometres (4,055.3 sq mi), with a population of roughly 20,000.
The Kuril Islands form part of the ring of tectonic instability encircling the Pacific Ocean referred to as the Ring of Fire. The islands themselves are summits of stratovolcanoes that are a direct result of the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Okhotsk Plate, which forms the Kuril Trench some 200 kilometres (124 mi) east of the islands. The chain has around 100 volcanoes, some 40 of which are active, and many hot springs and fumaroles. There is frequent seismic activity, including a magnitude8.5 earthquake in 1963 and one of magnitude 8.3 recorded on November 15, 2006, which resulted in tsunami waves up to 1.5 metres (5 ft) reaching the California coast. Raikoke Island, near the centre of the archipelago, has an active volcano which erupted again in June 2019, with emissions reaching 13,000 m (42,651 ft).