RUSSIA
<strong>Arms stationed in Kurils</strong>
Russia has deployed coastal missile defense systems to a remote part of the Kuril Islands in the Pacific near Japan, the Ministry of Defense’s Zvezda TV channel said on Thursday. Japan lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril Islands that Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, a territorial row that dates back to the end of World War II, when Soviet troops seized them from Japan. The dispute has prevented them signing a formal peace treaty. Russia used large landing ships to deliver equipment and personnel Matua Island in the central part of the chain, Zvezda said. Russia