Now Russia militarises THE PACIFIC with nuclear-capable missile system on JAPAN’S doorstep
VLADIMIR Putin has deployed nuclear-capable missile systems to the Russian-owned Kuril islands in the Pacific Ocean as tensions between Moscow and the West ratchet up.
By TOM BATCHELOR
Express.co.uk
Wed, Nov 23, 2016
Bastion and Bal anti-ship missile systems – with a range of almost 200 miles – are now operating on Japan’s doorstep.
The risk of conflict is heightened as both countries remained locked in a bitter dispute over the Kuril islands, with Tokyo and Moscow making claims to the archipelago.
In a sign of the deep ongoing divisions between the historic foes, neither side has yet signed a formal peace treaty ending World War Two hostilities.
President Putin will visit Japan next month to discuss the issue but the deployment of coastal defences is likely to complicate negotiations.
The Bastion is a mobile truck-mounted defence system armed with two anti-ship missiles with a range of up to 300 km (188 miles).
It has been used in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
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