Far Eastern outpost: why does Russia need to build a naval base on the Kuril Islands. Why does Russia need a naval base in the Kuril Islands? What kind of base can Russia afford?
Image copyright AFP
Image caption In 2010, the then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited the Kuril IslandsDeputy Chairman of the Committee on Defense and Security of the Federation Council Franz Klintsevich announced the construction of a naval base in the Kuril Islands. This is not the first mention of a military facility on the islands; Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke about this earlier, but this is the first time this project has been talked about in the present tense.
“The decision has been made. It is under implementation,” Klintsevich said, without specifying where exactly the military facility will be located.
Perhaps he meant the island of Matua - a small piece of land in the center of the Kuril ridge. In 2016, Defense Minister Shoigu said that Russia intended not only to restore, but also to actively exploit this island.
By that time, a large expedition of the Russian Geographical Society and the Pacific Fleet (PF) had already visited the island. The second expedition began in the summer of 2017 and is still ongoing.
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“Specialists carried out more than 1,000 laboratory studies on physical, chemical and biological indicators, made more than 200 measurements of the relief and external environment. They also carried out radiation and chemical reconnaissance, examined the fortifications of the island and more than 100 historical objects. Divers carried out work on hydrographic research of the bays and bays of the island of Matua,” says the Russian Geographical Society’s website.
Image copyright Google
Image caption Perhaps the naval base will be located on the island of MatuaThe expedition reports talk a lot about the study of marine invertebrate animals and algae, the study of the activity of the Sarychev Peak volcano, but if the Ministry of Defense really intends to build a base on this island, then hydrographic studies of the seabed topography and the study of the remains of Japanese military structures are most likely especially important for it .
The new base will be capable of receiving any ships, including the first rank, Klintsevich said on Thursday, without specifying which ships will be based at this facility.
Ships of the first rank include aircraft carriers, destroyers, missile and anti-submarine cruisers, nuclear submarines. For such deep-draft craft, the seabed really needs to be carefully prepared.
Belonging to some Kuril Islands Russia is disputed by Japan. They got it Soviet Union at the very end of World War II, when Soviet naval forces landed on the islands. The ownership of some of the islands was not secured by international treaties.
Japan claims the Kuril Islands Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and a group of small Habomai islands, citing the Shimonoseki Treaty of 1855. The Matua island that Shoigu spoke about does not belong to the group of disputed ones - it is located in another part of the ridge, in its central region.
Russia insists that the islands belong to it, citing the inadmissibility of revising the results of World War II.
Island as a base
The Kuril Islands are located in a strategically important area: they separate the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean, as if blocking access to it from south coast Russian Far East.
During World War II, a powerful system of fortifications, airfields, and naval bases was built on the islands. One of the objects was located just on Matua - coastal concrete fortifications, the remains of an airfield, warehouses, and shelters still remain on the island.
Image copyright Google
Image caption Traces of Japanese field fortifications remain on MatuaIN Soviet time and until 2001 there was a border post on the island, but in last years the island remained uninhabited.
Currently, the 18th machine gun and artillery division (the only such formation in the Russian army) is deployed on the Kuril Islands with reinforcement units in Iturup and Kunashir. Recently, Bal and Bastion coastal missile systems, as well as Buk anti-aircraft systems, were deployed on the islands. The Bastion complex was located on the island of Iturup, and the Bal complex was located on Kunashir.
Matua is not the most comfortable place to live or even to build a military base. Strong winds blow on the island; there are no large convenient bays on the coast. Finally, the entire northern part of the small island is a volcano that last erupted quite recently - in 2009.
The island is located at a great distance from supply bases, and communication with it, especially in the winter months, is difficult due to the fact that the Sea of Okhotsk freezes in this place.
Image copyright NASA
Image caption Eruption of the Sarychev Peak volcano on the island of Matua in 2009In any case, building a large base on it will be extremely expensive.
However, Russia appears ready to spend. On the one hand, the Kremlin has long been striving to expand its military presence in the World Ocean. AND Pacific region, which has attracted more and more attention in recent years, is extremely important for Russia.
For example, one of the two amphibious helicopter carriers that Russia intended to purchase from France was to be based in the Pacific Fleet.
“When I served in the Far East, the issue of placing a naval formation of the Pacific Fleet on the Kuril Islands was considered. It is profitable to create a base on the islands for the only reason - direct access to the ocean. Of the places that were determined to be suitable for it in terms of geometry, the difficulties were the following. The first - difficult ice conditions in winter. The second is the ebb and flow of tides of about six meters. The third is strong winds," former commander of the Baltic Fleet Admiral Vladimir Valuev said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
During the times of the USSR, which had a larger Pacific Fleet than Russia now has, a large military base was never built on the Kuril Islands.
Russia's second goal is to gain a foothold on the Kuril Islands themselves. The unresolved issue with the Kuril Islands hinders the development of relations between the two countries; it is raised every time by Moscow and Tokyo and clearly makes both sides very nervous.
What kind of base can Russia afford?
Speaking about the scale of the future facility, Senator Franz Klintsevich said that the new base will be capable of receiving any ships, including the first rank.
At the same time, Klintsevich used the word “base”, that is, he meant a fairly large facility, which should include not only berths, but also infrastructure for the maintenance of ships, ideally a dock and ship repair plant, barracks for accommodating crews and base personnel, air defense units and airfield.
And all this is on an island with an area of 52 square kilometers, a significant part of which is occupied by a volcano.
Senior researcher at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, Vasily Kashin, told the BBC that as a result, only a small logistics and technical support center for ships may appear on Matua, in Syria, and Russia will invest money in already existing bases of the Pacific fleet.
There are five of them in the Far East - in Vladivostok, Fokino, Vilyuchinsk (they are based there nuclear submarines), Sovetskaya Gavan and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
“Maybe it will be a harbor where there will be several piers, again we don’t know how many; there will be an icebreaker and a couple of tugs, and some small forces will be constantly deployed,” he said.
At the same time, Kashin noted that even if, for example, a large anti-submarine ship (first rank) can approach the island, it is still unknown how many such ships can be serviced there at the same time and what volume of service they can receive there.
Scope valid until 2015 Federal Target Program "Socio-economic development of the Kuril Islands for 2007-2015" amounts to 21 billion rubles.
The bulk of this amount is allocated from the federal budget. The Sakhalin Region also plans to attract funds from private investors for the development of the Kuril Islands. Private investment in the islands' economy now amounts to a billion rubles a year, and by 2015 it will increase to 6 billion. details about the new infrastructure of the Kuril Islands (many photos) The Kuril Islands include 30 large and many small islands. The population lives permanently only in Paramushir, Iturup, Kunashir and Shikotan. Population of the Kuril Islands - 18,735 people Kunashir Island- most south island Great ridge of the Kuril Islands. Population - approx. 8000 people. Yuzhno-Kurilsk - administrative center South Kuril District. 
Social housing 
In August 2012, a ceremony for presenting warrants and keys to new apartments took place in Yuzhno-Kurilsk. The 10-apartment building was built with funds from the regional and local budgets under one of the regional programs. 
House of Culture (medical and educational expedition “Borders of Russia”, August 2010) 
New kindergarten Port of Yuzhno-Kurilsk New deep-water pier 
The commissioning of modern deep-sea berthing complexes in Kunashir and Iturup will bring it to a qualitatively new level transport infrastructure in the Kuril Islands and will improve the quality of life on the islands. The motor ship "Igor Farkhutdinov" moored at the new pier for the first time (February 2011) 
With funds federal program socio-economic development of the Kuril Islands and budget Sakhalin region construction is underway marine terminal on the territory of the constructed mooring complex in the South Kuril Bay. In addition to passengers, this building will house various services - a border checkpoint, a customs post, port supervision, administration and a control room. seaport. Completion of construction is planned for 2012. 
Mendeleevo Airport The airfield was built by the Japanese when the island of Kunashir was still under Japanese control and has hardly been rebuilt since then. In 2006 it was closed due to complete deterioration of the infrastructure and destruction of the runway. During the reconstruction, within the framework of the Federal Target Program for the socio-economic development of the Kuril Islands, a new passenger terminal, taxiways, a new apron, a runway (runway), a landing system and lighting equipment were put into operation. Operates on the island Mendeleevskaya GeoTPP(geothermal power plant), which provides the island with heat and electricity. Volcano energy as a source of heat and light for humans is the operating principle of this station. Commissioning of the second stage of the station in 2007 provided 100% of the heat demand in Yuzhno-Kurilsk. The planned modernization of the Mendeleevskaya Geothermal Power Plant will increase its capacity from 3.6 MW to 7.4 MW. 
On about. Kunashir has two fish processing plants - LLC PKF "South Kuril Fish Processing Plant" and LLC "Delta". The Yuzhno-Kuril Fish Processing Plant has modernized its production processing lines. All fish and seafood caught by its own trawl fleet are delivered ashore without loss of quality. Integrated shift of 25 people successfully copes with large volumes of incoming raw materials.In 2011, the first kilometers of asphalt were laid on Kunashir Island. 
Iturup Island-an island of the southern group of the Great Ridge of the Kuril Islands, the largest island of the archipelago. Population - 6387 people. Kurilsk- the administrative center of the island. In recent years, a modern microdistrict “Severny” has been built in the village of Kurilsk. It is planned to build within its boundaries Grand Palace culture and sports, under the roof of which there will be a sports complex, a swimming pool, a cultural center and other institutions. In 2006, a modern fish processing complex "Reidovo" was launched on the island.. 
Six air freezing chambers ensure the production of 74 tons of finished frozen fish products per day. 
On about. Iturup also houses the Yasny fish processing plant, equipped with a one-of-a-kind freezing tunnel for air freezing of fish, which allows the continuous freezing of 210 tons of finished fish products per day. There is a caviar workshop where 3 tons of caviar are produced per day. In addition, there is a salting shop with a capacity of 25 tons per day and a refrigerator with a capacity of 2300 tons of simultaneous storage. There are several other fishing enterprises, the largest of which are Skit, Bug, and Continent. Kurilskaya buildings have already been built on the island high school for 250 students, as well as a modern central district hospital with 50 beds and a clinic for 100 visits per shift. New hospital 
Sports complex 
improvement work 
In February 2012, two 8-apartment buildings were put into operation 
New airport“Iturup” is located on the sunny side of the island, which will allow you to easily get to the island even in bad weather. The extended 2.2 km long runway will accommodate all types of aircraft operating in the region. Near Kurilsk there is a geothermal spring with radon waters. 
A few years ago, the springs consisted of two concrete vats for salting fish, in which vacationers took baths, not forgetting to litter the surrounding area with broken bottle glass. Geothermal springs were improved by the company "Gidrostoroy" 
Shikotan Island- the largest island of the Malaya ridge of the Kuril Islands. Malokurilskoe- the administrative center of the island. Population - approx. 2100 people. Using funds from the federal program, a deep-water pier has already been built and is being operated in Malokurilskaya Bay on Shikotan, and in the neighboring Krabozavodskaya Bay on the same Shikotan, the construction of a pier is nearing completion on co-financing terms - the own funds of Gidrostroy JSC and the regional budget. 
The Krabozavodsk fish processing complex is equipped with the most modern equipment. 
The workshop's capacity allows it to receive and process up to 300 tons of raw fish every day. 
New kindergarten for 70 places (2010)
The Russian Armed Forces, aware of the strategic importance of the Kuril Islands, by the end of last year completed the modernization of military facilities on two of them - Kunashir and Iturup, and this year they plan to create modern military bases on two more - the island of Matua in their central part, and in the north - Paramushir island.
In the context of a serious deterioration in Russian-American relations, for the protection of the Sea of Okhotsk, as a stronghold of nuclear confrontation with the United States, military construction on the Kuril Islands is of paramount importance. Russian President Vladimir Putin also takes into account the conditions for the return of the “northern territories” in the context of ensuring the country’s national security, which, in turn, increases barriers to solving the territorial problem,
Restoration work at military bases in Kunashir and Iturup
According to the press organ of the Russian Pacific Fleet, in November 2016, a modern surface-to-surface missile system "Bastion" with a flight range of 300 kilometers was deployed on Iturup, and a new surface-to-surface missile system "Bal" was deployed on Kunashir Island ", with a flight range of 130 kilometers.
According to experts, both missile systems are effective in destroying large surface targets, such as, for example, US Navy aircraft carriers. For the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, weapons upgrades took place in the “northern territories.”
There is no doubt that this new deployment of weapons a month before Vladimir Putin’s official visit to Japan became an element of influence on our country, but it could also be a way for the Russian military to put pressure on its president so that he would not make territorial concessions.
© RIA Novosti, Vitaly AnkovBoth in Kunashir, where all resources have already been fully utilized, and in Iturup, where military facilities have already been restored, last year everything already took on a finished form. As Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced in December 2015, it was not only about restoring the military base on Kunashir and other islands, but also about the parallel construction of a total of 392 infrastructure facilities, including schools, leisure centers, shops, etc.
The Russian military garrison on Iturup is located near two villages - Goryachiy Klyuch and Gorlovka on the Pacific coast. After the reduction in its numbers following the collapse of the USSR and the 1994 earthquake, the equipment became outdated and some of it became worthless.
The military opposes the transfer of land to the population
Defense Minister Shoigu stated in February 2017: “The Russian army will complete the deployment of three new divisions on the Western and Southern borders, as well as in the Eastern part of the country in 2017. We are also actively working to protect the Kuril Islands. We will also station one division here.” This means that within a year another new division was supposed to appear on the Kuril Islands.
Context
In the Kuril Islands - one owner
Yahoo News Japan 11/01/2017Bastion vs Aegis Ashore
Asahi Shimbun 12/12/2017Will Japan invite Putin to discuss the Kuril Islands?
Japan Today 01/09/2018Putin did not forget to muddy the waters
Sankei Shimbun 09/20/2017Kuril Islands: purchase in installments
The American Interest 05/17/2017 Currently, the 18th machine-gun-artillery division is located on Iturup, the 46th machine-gun-artillery regiment is on Kunashir, the number of troops on Iturup is three thousand people, on Kunashir - 500 people. During Putin's presidency, a military reform was carried out in which, based on the importance of rapid deployment, the emphasis was placed not on divisions, but on more mobile units - brigades and regiments.And although the troops located on Iturup make up the strength of the division, in general the brigade becomes the unit of troops. The details are not yet clear, for example, the “one division” mentioned by the Minister of Defense - whether it will be completely new, or whether we are talking about reforming an existing division. But given the difficulties of conscription, it is unlikely that we are talking about another completely new division. In any case, there is no information yet that another new division has appeared on the Kuril Islands.
Last year, as one of the measures to develop the underpopulated Far East, the Russian government adopted the “ Far Eastern hectare» to rent out the empty land here to anyone, but, as far as I know, this plan has so far been suspended on the Kuril Islands. Land leasing in mountainous areas is unlikely to be realistic, and the Ministry of Defense is also opposed to it, believing that private land ownership is undesirable for the protection of military secrets.
Military bases in the center and north of the Kuril Islands
On the other side, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported on November 29 that, according to information received from General Staff sources, for the further deployment of surface-to-surface missiles, the construction of military bases on the islands of Matua and Paramushir is beginning. The deployment of the Bal and Bastion missile systems, similar to those already located on Kunashir and Iturup, is planned on the two indicated islands as early as 2018.
The newspaper also reported that Defense Ministry specialists have already visited two islands in order to determine a specific location for setting up military bases and deploying missiles. The deployment of modern missile systems in this area will not only strengthen the defense potential in the middle and northern part of the Kuril Islands, but will also provide assistance to Kamchatka, where the strategic nuclear submarine base is located.
During World War II, Matua and Paramushir played an important role in the battles of the Imperial Japanese Army with the United States; there were numerous garrisons, strongholds, and military ports. Apparently Russia plans to restore these fortifications and use them as the basis for modern naval and air bases.
Military expert Alexander Mostovoy told Izvestia that “the Kuril military bases not only strengthen the defense potential of the islands themselves, but also prevent the direct penetration of US aircraft carriers into the area of the Sea of Okhotsk and Primorye.” “The old Japanese Imperial Army was well aware of the strategic importance of the Kuril Islands and during the Second World War had bases and airfields on the islands of Matua and Paramushire. Some of them were used by the USSR after the war, and if the international situation now worsens, it is planned to actively use them as well,” the expert noted.
However, in winter time Strong winds blow on the islands, and the sea around them freezes. Strong tides lead to sudden changes in depth, which makes it difficult to supply resources and food to the shore. Although up to two thousand people lived on Paramushir, uninhabited Matua is active volcano, which has erupted more than once in the past. As Mostovoy noted in his interview, “military construction in remote areas big land islands is an extremely difficult matter. Large costs are also required. Only border guards are needed here.”
Creation of a new Arctic brigade
Recently, the Russian military has been actively preparing to increase its presence in such remote areas as the Far East and the Arctic. A special Arctic brigade of two thousand people is being created for the Arctic. In 2017, the first 150 people of its strength are already deployed on Alexandra Island, part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago.
Today this is the largest group of construction workers working north of the 80th parallel. At a time when the area of Arctic ice is shrinking due to global warming, Russia is thinking about military construction to ensure its own national interests in this area, a storehouse of natural resources.
In addition to this, the Russian military wants to locate a new naval base for the Pacific Fleet on the Chukotka Peninsula, opposite the American Alaska.
A series of such actions suggests geopolitical ambitions to strengthen weapons in the Kuril Islands - Chukotka - Arctic Circle arc.
Today Russia is waging “two wars” in Ukraine and Syria, strengthening its position from the outside Baltic Sea, opposing NATO's containment policy towards Russia. In the south, also turbulent for Russia, it is dealing with China, which is expanding its military capabilities, North Korea, which continues to develop its nuclear missile program, Central Asia and the Middle East.
The share of military expenditures has recently been 5% of GNP, which can already be considered a critical level. Tax revenues are declining due to lower oil prices and sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe, and since 2017 there has been a reduction in the military budget. The regular army of Russia consists of almost 900 thousand people, which is adequate for a large territory, and there are also significant reserves.
Even if the planned military bases are built, Japan and the US will not be able to attack them, so savings should be made on this. You can do other things than station troops in the inaccessible Arctic and Far East, but as long as economic difficulties continue, there will be military expansion.
Improving international security as a condition for the return of territories
In parallel with the deployment of armed forces on the Kuril Islands, President Putin began to express concerns in the field of international security when discussing the problem of the “northern territories”. In December 2016, at a press conference during a visit to Japan, he said: “Russia has two large naval bases north of Vladivostok, on their way to the Pacific Ocean our ships are forced to pass the South Kuril Islands, I want our Japanese friends understood this situation."
In June 2017, speaking to major international news agencies, Vladimir Putin said: “If the Southern Kuril Islands become Japanese territory, it becomes theoretically possible for the US armed forces to come to them. I am not familiar with their bilateral agreement and its annexes. But there is such a possibility. Therefore, we need to work on easing tensions in the region as a whole, and only then will we find opportunities to conclude a serious and long-term agreement with Japan.”
Thus, an improvement in the international security situation was also named as a prerequisite for concluding a Russian-Japanese peace treaty. This is the first time since the collapse of the USSR that Russia has set as a necessary condition the improvement of the international security situation.
With regard to strengthening military capabilities in the Kuril Islands, it was stated that “we are interested in our security, in removing threats away from our borders, the Southern Kuril Islands are important for this. I support military modernization here.”
And at the Vietnam-Danang meeting in November last year: “When concluding a Russian-Japanese peace treaty, we must take into account the Japanese-American security treaty and the obligations that it imposes on Japan. In this sense, the security system existing between Japan and the United States “prevents the conclusion of a Russian-Japanese peace treaty.”
As for the development of ties between Japan and Russia, in March 2017, in Tokyo, for the first time in the last four years, a meeting was held in the “2+2” format of the diplomatic and military leaders of the two countries; in December, after a seven-year break, Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, visited Japan . Although bilateral security dialogue continues, differences remain, such as US-Japan missile defense cooperation and North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks to resolve the territorial issue from a position of strong leadership, President Putin views the issue from a global strategy involving the United States.
The progress of further negotiations is hampered by the fact that international security issues are becoming a new obstacle to concluding a peace treaty.
InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.
Illustration copyright AFP Image caption In 2010, the then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited the Kuril Islands
Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Defense and Security of the Federation Council Franz Klintsevich announced the construction of a naval base in the Kuril Islands. This is not the first mention of a military facility on the islands; Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke about this earlier, but this is the first time this project has been talked about in the present tense.
“The decision has been made. It is under implementation,” Klintsevich said, without specifying where exactly the military facility will be located.
Perhaps he meant the island of Matua - a small piece of land in the center of the Kuril ridge. In 2016, Defense Minister Shoigu said that Russia intended not only to restore, but also to actively exploit this island.
By that time, a large expedition of the Russian Geographical Society and the Pacific Fleet (PF) had already visited the island. The second expedition began in the summer of 2017 and is still ongoing.
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“Specialists carried out more than 1,000 laboratory studies on physical, chemical and biological indicators, made more than 200 measurements of the relief and external environment. They also carried out radiation and chemical reconnaissance, examined the fortifications of the island and more than 100 historical objects. Divers carried out work on hydrographic research of the bays and bays of the island of Matua,” says the Russian Geographical Society’s website.
Illustration copyright Google Image caption Perhaps the naval base will be located on the island of MatuaThe expedition reports talk a lot about the study of marine invertebrate animals and algae, the study of the activity of the Sarychev Peak volcano, but if the Ministry of Defense really intends to build a base on this island, then hydrographic studies of the seabed topography and the study of the remains of Japanese military structures are most likely especially important for it .
The new base will be capable of receiving any ships, including the first rank, Klintsevich said on Thursday, without specifying which ships will be based at this facility.
Ships of the first rank include aircraft carriers, destroyers, missile and anti-submarine cruisers, and nuclear submarines. For such deep-draft craft, the seabed really needs to be carefully prepared.
The ownership of some of the Kuril Islands by Russia is disputed by Japan. They went to the Soviet Union at the very end of World War II, when Soviet naval forces landed on the islands. The ownership of some of the islands was not secured by international treaties.
Japan claims the Kuril Islands Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and a group of small Habomai islands, citing the Shimonoseki Treaty of 1855. The Matua island that Shoigu spoke about does not belong to the group of disputed ones - it is located in another part of the ridge, in its central region.
Russia insists that the islands belong to it, citing the inadmissibility of revising the results of World War II.
Island as a base
The Kuril Islands are located in a strategically important area: they separate the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean, as if blocking access to it from the southern coast of the Russian Far East.
During World War II, a powerful system of fortifications, airfields, and naval bases was built on the islands. One of the objects was located just on Matua - coastal concrete fortifications, the remains of an airfield, warehouses, and shelters still remain on the island.
Illustration copyright Google Image caption Traces of Japanese field fortifications remain on MatuaDuring Soviet times and until 2001, there was a border post on the island, but in recent years the island has remained uninhabited.
Currently, the 18th machine gun and artillery division (the only such formation in the Russian army) is deployed on the Kuril Islands with reinforcement units in Iturup and Kunashir. Recently, Bal and Bastion coastal missile systems, as well as Buk anti-aircraft systems, were deployed on the islands. The Bastion complex was located on the island of Iturup, and the Bal complex was located on Kunashir.
Matua is not the most comfortable place to live or even to build a military base. Strong winds blow on the island; there are no large convenient bays on the coast. Finally, the entire northern part of the small island is a volcano that last erupted quite recently - in 2009.
The island is located at a great distance from supply bases, and communication with it, especially in the winter months, is difficult due to the fact that the Sea of Okhotsk freezes in this place.
Illustration copyright NASA Image caption Eruption of the Sarychev Peak volcano on the island of Matua in 2009In any case, building a large base on it will be extremely expensive.
However, Russia appears ready to spend. On the one hand, the Kremlin has long been striving to expand its military presence in the World Ocean. And the Pacific region, which has attracted more and more attention in recent years, is extremely important for Russia.
For example, one of the two amphibious helicopter carriers that Russia intended to purchase from France was to be based in the Pacific Fleet.
“When I served in the Far East, the issue of placing a naval formation of the Pacific Fleet on the Kuril Islands was considered. It is profitable to create a base on the islands for the only reason - direct access to the ocean. Of the places that were determined to be suitable for it in terms of geometry, the difficulties were the following. The first - difficult ice conditions in winter. The second is the ebb and flow of tides of about six meters. The third is strong winds," former commander of the Baltic Fleet Admiral Vladimir Valuev said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
During the times of the USSR, which had a larger Pacific Fleet than Russia now has, a large military base was never built on the Kuril Islands.
Russia's second goal is to gain a foothold on the Kuril Islands themselves. The unresolved issue with the Kuril Islands hinders the development of relations between the two countries; it is raised every time by Moscow and Tokyo and clearly makes both sides very nervous.
What kind of base can Russia afford?
Speaking about the scale of the future facility, Senator Franz Klintsevich said that the new base will be capable of receiving any ships, including the first rank.
At the same time, Klintsevich used the word “base”, that is, he meant a fairly large facility, which should include not only berths, but also infrastructure for the maintenance of ships, ideally a dock and ship repair plant, barracks for accommodating crews and base personnel, air defense units and airfield.
And all this is on an island with an area of 52 square kilometers, a significant part of which is occupied by a volcano.
- Tartus: a “gas station” that dreams of becoming a base
Senior researcher at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, Vasily Kashin, told the BBC that as a result, only a small logistics and technical support center for ships may appear on Matua, in Syria, and Russia will invest money in already existing bases of the Pacific fleet.
There are five of them in the Far East - in Vladivostok, Fokino, Vilyuchinsk (nuclear submarines are based there), Sovetskaya Gavan and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
“Maybe it will be a harbor where there will be several piers, again we don’t know how many; there will be an icebreaker and a couple of tugs, and some small forces will be constantly deployed,” he said.
At the same time, Kashin noted that even if, for example, a large anti-submarine ship (first rank) can approach the island, it is still unknown how many such ships can be serviced there at the same time and what volume of service they can receive there.
Alexey Zakvasin, Svyatoslav Petrov
In the near future, Russia will begin construction of a naval base in the Kuril Islands. This was announced by the Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense Franz Klintsevich. Moscow has been restoring the military infrastructure on the Kuril ridge since 2010. At the end of 2016, the “Ball” and “Bastion” complexes were located here. The strengthening of the Russian military presence in the region causes extreme concern for Japan, which lays claim to the four islands of the Kuril chain that were given to the USSR following the Second World War. Why Russia is building a naval base in the Kuril Islands and how this will affect relations between Moscow and Tokyo - in the RT material.
- Detention Bay on Matua Island
- RIA News
- Roman Denisov
Russia will create a naval base (naval base) on the Kuril Islands. According to the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, Franz Klintsevich, the Russian leadership has made a fundamental decision on this matter.
"Decision is made. It is under implementation.<...>Everything is going strictly according to plan, without emergency jerks,” Klintsevich said, adding that work will begin in the near future.
The senator also clarified that as part of the construction of the naval base, the airfield network will be restored.
Window to the Pacific Ocean
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the possible location of a Pacific Fleet (PF) base in the Kuril Islands at the end of May 2016. As Colonel General Sergei Surovikin clarified, a berth for warships will be equipped on the island of Matua, which is located in the center of the Kuril ridge between the Golovin and Nadezhda straits.
Currently, the Navy's infrastructure includes 23 bases and nine naval bases. The Russian Pacific Fleet is located in Vladivostok, Fokino (Primorsky Territory), Big Stone(Primorsky Territory) and Vilyuchinsk (Kamchatka).
The deployment of a naval base on Matua is intended to facilitate the exit of ships and submarines of the Pacific Fleet, including strategic ones, into Pacific Ocean. In addition, the new base will allow Russia to improve control over its eastern borders, including the sparsely populated Kuril ridge.
For the second year in a row, a joint expedition of the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society has been working on Matua. The main goal of the research project is to determine the prospects for military exploitation of the island.
- Expedition of the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society on the island of Matua
- Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The Russian Ministry of Defense has been consistently strengthening the military infrastructure of the Kuril Islands since 2010. According to the original plans, most of work should be completed in 2020. The military department is restoring positions lost after the collapse of the USSR and at the same time implementing new projects.
In the 1970s, the Soviet leadership intended to build a naval base on Simushir Island in the village of Kraterny (Broughton Bay). In particular, it was planned to place submarines, anti-submarine ships and the aircraft-carrying cruiser Minsk there. But perestroika buried this ambitious project.
Last fall, the Russian Ministry of Defense deployed the Bastion anti-ship missile system on Iturup Island, and the Bal complex on Kunashir Island.
- Coastal missile system "Bastion"
- RIA News
- Vitaly Ankov
In February 2017, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the formation of a division in the Kuril Islands should be completed by the end of the year. We are talking about the 18th machine gun and artillery division, the strength of which is estimated at 3.5 thousand people.
The unit is equipped with tanks, armored vehicles, multiple launch rocket systems, towed and mortar artillery pieces. Since 2015, the division has been on combat duty with air defense units with several Tor-M2U anti-aircraft systems.
Editor-in-Chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko believes that this moment It’s too early to talk about the timing of the creation of the naval base. However, in his opinion, the decision to build a base on Matua is justified from a strategic point of view.
“The Kuril Islands need a full-fledged military infrastructure, since we are talking about protecting the eastern borders of Russia. The basing of warships, air and anti-ship defense, a garrison within the division will be ensured - all elements of Russia’s military presence on the border of its own territory,” Korotchenko noted in an interview with RT.
Inconsistency of expectations
During World War II, the 41st Separate Mixed Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army was located on Matua. The Japanese created many engineering structures, but never entered the battle. Before surrendering, they blew up all objects that could be of value to the Soviet army.
The strengthening of the Russian military presence in the Kuril ridge has traditionally caused concern in Japan. Tokyo does not recognize Moscow's four Kuril Islands (Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islands), which, like Matua, were ceded to the USSR following the Second World War. Due to territorial claims, there is still no peace treaty between the two states.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly informed Tokyo that the strengthening of military infrastructure on the archipelago is planned. In February 2017, during a visit to Japan, Sergei Shoigu noted that the division in the Kuril Islands “has been created over the past six years, created not against anyone, but exclusively to protect the territory of the Russian Federation.”
In December 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The head of the Russian state called for an end to the “historical ping-pong in these territories.” The leaders agreed to restore military contacts and entered into a number of agreements in the economic sphere.
Korotchenko believes that the construction of a base on Matua is a political signal for Tokyo: Russia is demonstrating that it has every right “to build anything and anywhere on its territory.” As the expert explained, plans to build a base had been made before, “it’s just that now all this is taking real shape.”
Senior researcher at the Center for Japanese Studies at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Viktor Kuzminkov, also believes that Moscow is sending an unambiguous signal to its partners from Tokyo.
The expert said that Klintsevich’s statement was made at a time when a Japanese delegation led by Assistant to the Prime Minister Eiichi Hasegawa was visiting the Kuril Islands. The purpose of the visit is to inspect four islands before starting joint business activities.
“We are seeing another discrepancy in expectations from mutual cooperation. Russia has high expectations from economic cooperation and hopes for big projects with Japan. Tokyo hopes for some political dividends in return, namely on the issue of the Kuril Islands,” Kuzminkov emphasized in a conversation with RT.
However, according to the expert, in reality, neither Russia is ready to transfer the islands, nor is Japan truly interested in Russia as an economic partner.
“The Japanese are still hoping to get the islands, and the construction of a base on Matua, of course, will be perceived negatively. I don’t rule out that this will cause quite serious protests in Tokyo,” concluded Kuzminkov.
