Far Eastern outpost: why should Russia build a naval base in the Kuriles. Construction of military facilities on the islands of the Kuril chain Kuriles military facilities

The scope of the current until 2015 FTP "Socio-economic development of the Kuril Islands for 2007-2015" is 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 Kuriles. Private investments in the economy of the islands now amount to a billion rubles a year, and by 2015 they 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. The population of the Kuril Islands 18,735 people Kunashir island- the southernmost island of the Great Ridge of the Kuril Islands. The population is about 8000 people. Yuzhno-Kurilsk- the administrative center of the South Kuril district.


social housing

In August 2012, a ceremony was held in Yuzhno-Kurilsk to hand over warrants and keys to new apartments. 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 "Frontiers of Russia", August 2010)
New Kindergarten Port of Yuzhno-Kurilsk New Deep-Water Berth

The commissioning of modern deep-sea berthing complexes in Kunashir and Iturup will bring the transport infrastructure in the Kuriles to a qualitatively new level and improve the quality of life on the islands. Motor ship "Igor Farkhutdinov" moored for the first time at the new berth (February 2011)
The federal program for the socio-economic development of the Kuril Islands and the budget of the Sakhalin Region finance sea ​​station on the territory of the constructed berthing complex in the South Kuril Bay. In this building, in addition to passengers, various services will be located - a border checkpoint, a customs post, port supervision, the administration and control room of the seaport. Completion of construction is planned for 2012.

Mendeleevo Airport The airport was built by the Japanese when the island of Kunashir was still under the control of Japan and since then it has not been practically rebuilt. In 2006, it was closed due to the complete deterioration of the infrastructure and the 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 (RWY), a landing system and lighting equipment were put into operation. The island operates Mendeleevskaya GeoTPP(geothermal power plant), which provides the island with heat and electricity. The energy of a volcano as a source of heat and light for a person is the principle of operation of this station. Commissioning in 2007 of the second stage of the station provided 100% of the heat demand in Yuzhno-Kurilsk. The planned modernization of the Mendeleevskaya GeoTPP will increase its capacity from 3.6 MW to 7.4 MW.
On about. Kunashir has two fish processing plants - PKF South Kuril Fish Processing Plant LLC and Delta LLC. The South Kuril Fish Processing Plant has modernized its production processing lines. All fish and seafood caught by its own trawl fleet are delivered to the shore without loss of quality. 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- the island of the southern group of the Great Ridge of the Kuril Islands, the most large island archipelago. Population - 6387 people. Kurilsk is the administrative center of the island. In the village of Kurilsk, a modern microdistrict "Severny" has been built in recent years. Within its boundaries, it is planned to build a large palace of culture and sports, under the roof of which there will be a sports complex, a swimming pool, a house of culture and other institutions. In 2006, a modern fish processing complex "Reidovo" was launched on the island..
Six air-freezing chambers ensure the release of 74 tons of finished frozen fish products per day.
On about. Iturup also has a fish processing plant "Yasny", equipped with a one-of-a-kind freezer tunnel for air freezing of fish, which allows you to continuously freeze 210 tons of finished fish products per day. There is a caviar shop, where 3 tons of caviar are produced per day. In addition, a salting shop with a capacity of 25 tons per day and a refrigerator with a capacity of 2300 tons of one-time storage. There are several more fishing enterprises, the largest of which are Skit, Bug, and Continent. The buildings of the Kuril secondary school for 250 students have already been built on the island, as well as a modern central district hospital with 50 beds with a polyclinic for 100 visits per shift. New hospital
sports complex

landscaping work

In February 2012, two 8-apartment buildings were commissioned
The new Iturup airport 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. There is a geothermal spring with radon waters near Kurilsk.
A few years ago, the springs consisted of two concrete vats for salting fish, in which vacationers took baths, not forgetting to dot the neighborhood with broken bottle glass. Improved geothermal springs by Gidrostoroy company
Shikotan island- the largest island of the Lesser Ridge of the Kuril Islands. Malokurilskoe is the administrative center of the island. The population is about 2100 people. A deep-water pier has already been built and operated at the funds of the federal program in the Malokurilskaya Bay on Shikotan, and in the neighboring Krabozavodskaya Bay on the same Shikotan, the construction of a berth is nearing completion on the terms of co-financing - the own funds of CJSC Gidrostroy and the regional budget.



Fish processing complex "Krabozavodsk" is equipped with the most modern equipment.
the capacity of the workshop allows to receive and process up to 300 tons of raw fish daily.
New kindergarten for 70 places (2010)

A few years ago, the Russian government turned its attention to the Kuriles as a Russian outpost in the Far East, deciding to create (primarily in Iturup and Kunashir) an updated military and social infrastructure based on the one that existed since Soviet times.

Construction work in the active phase began in the second half of 2014. In a relatively short time, the forces of contracting organizations: Spetsstroy Rossii and Instrakt-Proekt carried out a preparatory stage for the normal operation of construction units. Temporary comfortable housing was prepared for workers and engineers (two residential towns are now functioning). Meals are organized in canteens, a bathhouse and laundries with dryers ( important point in the Kuril Islands with their unstable and dank weather). Delivered, mainly from the mainland, and placed the necessary contingent of qualified specialists: from drivers to concrete carpenters. They brought building materials, fuel and lubricants and the necessary new construction equipment: truck cranes, excavators, bulldozers, dump trucks and more. And the construction process began - both in the village of Goryachiye Klyuchi and in Burevestnik.

Pit pits appeared and the foundations of buildings began to be built. But then, for some time, there was a pause in construction work due to the fact that the Russian Ministry of Defense decided to increase the number of construction projects in all areas of the military social infrastructure in the Kuriles. And this led to the need to expand the built-up areas and, accordingly, to conduct additional surveys and design work.

Construction has resumed today. In Goryachichi Klyuchi, a residential complex of two-story buildings continues to be built. At the first stage, six such buildings should be built. The basis for them are steel frames sheathed with light hinged panels. Such structures are safe during earthquakes: they are designed for tremors with a force of up to nine or more points. In parallel, all engineering networks are connected to them: electrical, thermal, plumbing and sanitation.

It is planned to start construction of the Leisure and Sports Center in the near future, next in line is a hospital with 100 beds (medical and paramedical staff are already being recruited), a school and a kindergarten. Outdoor sports grounds will also be created. That is, everything will be done so that military personnel and their families, as well as civilian service personnel, do not feel cut off from the mainland. One thing will be required of them - to serve and work more efficiently than in the past. In order to intensify construction work in the future, we must mount another household camp for 150 people (now more than 300 people work) and add the number of construction equipment in anticipation of the already beginning warm season. But in order to accommodate the above objects, that is, to prepare construction sites for them, according to the construction management, it is necessary to demolish a number of existing old buildings and transfer engineering networks.

In addition to social facilities, active construction of military training campuses, parks for military equipment, storage facilities and warehouses for various purposes is underway. It is planned that some objects will be presented for acceptance by the state commission by the summer of this year.

It should be noted that since the Soviet period, the construction of military camps on Kuril Islands more than 30 years have passed. People with such experience have been out of work for a long time, and a new generation of military builders is only gaining their experience in conducting construction work in a distant region with its own special climatic conditions. Of course, no one is pleased with the delay in the supply of building materials. It is on the delivery of materials that a significant share of construction costs falls. Most of them are absent on the island, and those that are available on Iturup, for example, inert materials, according to the laboratory conclusions of Spetsstroy of Russia, are not suitable for use everywhere because of their insufficient strength and frost resistance. Local materials can be used for filling, for some types of bases, for example, road. They cannot be used in the manufacture of critical structures, so military builders are forced to import the same crushed stone from across the sea, from Vladivostok. It is clear that such logistics are very expensive, although the material itself is quite inexpensive.

The bulk of building materials arrive on the island through the port terminal "Kurilsk", which allows JSC "Gidrostroy", which serves it, to earn decent money on unloading ships. The port's cargo turnover in 2015 amounted to about 70 thousand tons, of which building materials for military builders took about 45-50 percent. A number of island entrepreneurs who have their own trucks make money on the transfer of goods from the port to Goryachiye Klyuchi and Burevestnik (not the shortest shoulder by local standards). Of course, this is good for all participants in the delivery of materials. However, this situation does not suit the organizers of the construction, and it is clear for what reasons. Let me remind you that in the years of the USSR, cargo ships were unloaded almost next to construction sites in Kasatka Bay, temporary mooring facilities were used, which, by the way, did an excellent job with the tasks. Today we are talking about the need to build a capital deep-sea berth, similar to what is in the port of Kurilsk (after all, cargo must be imported not only for construction, but also for the regular supply of troops), and such a decision, according to our information, has already been made. In a good way, such a berth was needed "yesterday", but better late than never.

Builders are faced with the age-old Kuril problem - sending people to rest when changing shifts and going on vacation. As always, there are difficulties with the purchase of tickets in both directions, both for air transport and for sea transport. The management is trying to get around them, at least by organizing expensive charter flights, but this is not always possible, since everyone knows the situation with the availability of free "boards" in the Aurora airline.

It cannot be said that due to the reduction in the winter of 2015-2016. construction work in Kurilsk and Reidovo, some people with construction specialties went to work at Spetsstroy Rossii in Goryachie Klyuchi. Of course, his personnel service does not take everyone who wants it, but makes a selection, but there is an opportunity for employment for the local people. Information about vacancies is submitted to the Kuril employment center.

Significant for the island budget is the fact that Spetsstroy Rossii has registered its Iturup construction subdivisions (Main Department No. 2 and Spetsstroy-Service) in the Kuril region. This means that the income taxes of individuals working in these organizations will go to the district.

We add that the forces of Spetsstroy of Russia are carrying out construction on the neighboring island of Kunashir in almost the same volume.

Alexey Zakvasin, Svyatoslav Petrov

In the near future, Russia will begin construction of a naval base in the Kuriles. Franz Klintsevich, Deputy Chairman of the Defense Committee of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, announced this. Since 2010, Moscow has been restoring the military infrastructure on the Kuril ridge. At the end of 2016, the Bal and Bastion complexes were placed here. The strengthening of the military presence of the Russian Federation in the region is of extreme concern to Japan, which claims the four islands of the Kuril chain, inherited by the USSR as a result of the Second World War. Why is Russia building a naval base in the Kuriles and how will this affect relations between Moscow and Tokyo - in the material RT.

• Detention Bay on Matua Island
• RIA News
• Roman Denisov

Russia will create a naval base (Naval Base) on the Kuril Islands. According to Frants Klintsevich, Deputy Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, 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 the airfield network will be restored as part of the construction of the naval base.

Window to the Pacific Ocean

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the possible deployment of the Pacific Fleet (Pacific Fleet) in the Kuril Islands at the end of May 2016. As Colonel-General Sergey 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.

At present, the Navy's infrastructure includes 23 bases and nine naval bases. Pacific Fleet Russia is located in Vladivostok, Fokino (Primorsky Territory), Bolshoy Kamen (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, to the Pacific Ocean. In addition, the new base will allow Russia to improve control over the 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 Defense Ministry has been consistently strengthening the military infrastructure of the Kuril Islands since 2010. According to the initial plans, most of the 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 was going to build a naval base on the island of Simushir in the village of Kraterny (Broughton Bay). In particular, it was planned to place submarines, anti-submarine ships and the Minsk aircraft-carrying cruiser there. But perestroika buried this ambitious project.

Last autumn, the Russian Defense Ministry 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 announced that the formation of a division in the Kuriles should be completed by the end of the year. We are talking about the 18th machine gun and artillery division, the number of which is estimated at 3.5 thousand people.

The formation 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.

Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, believes that at the moment it is 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 Kuriles 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, the garrison as part of the division will be provided - all elements of Russia's military presence on the border of its own territory, ”Korotchenko said in an interview with RT.

Mismatched 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 did not enter the battle. Before surrendering, they blew up all the objects that could be of value to the Soviet army.

The strengthening of the military presence of the Russian Federation on the Kuril ridge traditionally causes concern in Japan. Tokyo does not recognize four Kuril Islands for Moscow (Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islands), which, like Matua, were ceded to the USSR following World War II. Due to territorial claims between the two states, there is still no peace treaty.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly informed Tokyo that the strengthening of the military infrastructure in the archipelago is planned. In February 2017, during a visit to Japan, Sergei Shoigu noted that the division in the Kuriles "is being created over the past six years, it is not being created against anyone, but solely 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 "historical ping-pong in these territories." The leaders agreed to restore military contacts and concluded 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 for the construction of the base were made before, "it's just that now all this is taking on a real form."

Viktor Kuzminkov, senior researcher at the Center for Japanese Studies at the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also believes that Moscow is sending an unambiguous signal to its partners from Tokyo.

The expert said that Klintsevich's statement was made at the moment when the Japanese delegation headed by the Prime Minister's aide Eiichi Hasegawa was visiting the Kuril Islands. The purpose of the visit is to inspect the four islands before the start of joint economic activities.

“We are seeing another inconsistency in expectations from mutual cooperation. Russia has high expectations from economic cooperation, there is hope for big projects with Japan. Tokyo, on the other hand, is hoping for some political dividends in return, namely, on the issue of the Kuril Islands, ”Kuzminkov emphasized in an interview with RT.

However, according to the expert, in reality, neither Russia is ready to transfer the islands, nor Japan is really 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 do not exclude that this will cause quite serious protests in Tokyo, ”summed up Kuzminkov.

Image copyright AFP

Frants Klintsevich, Deputy Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of the Federation Council, announced the construction of a naval base in the Kuriles. This is not the first mention of a military facility on the islands, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke about this earlier, but for the first time this project was talked about in the present tense.

"The decision has been made. It is under implementation," Klintsevich said, without specifying exactly where the military facility would be located.

Perhaps he had in mind the island of Matua - a small piece of land in the center of the Kuril chain. 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 (Pacific Fleet) had already visited the island. The second expedition began in the summer of 2017 and continues to this day.

• Russian senator: the decision on the naval base in the Kuril Islands has been made
• Will Putin agree to the return of the Kuril Islands to Japan?
• Japan regrets the deployment of Russian missiles in the Kuriles

"Specialists conducted more than 1,000 laboratory studies on physical, chemical and biological indicators, made more than 200 measurements of the relief and the external environment. Radiation and chemical reconnaissance was also carried out, the fortifications of the island and more than 100 historical objects were examined. Divers carried out work on a hydrographic study of bays and bays of the island of Matua," the RGS website says.

Image copyright Google

The reports of the expeditions talk a lot about the study of marine invertebrates and algae, the study of the activity of the Sarychev Peak volcano, but if the Ministry of Defense is really going to build a base on this island, then hydrographic studies of the relief of the seabed and the study of the remains of Japanese military installations are most likely especially important for it. .

The new base will be able to receive any ships, including the first rank, Klintsevich said on Thursday, without specifying which ships will be based at this facility.

The ships of the first rank include aircraft carriers, destroyers, missile and anti-submarine cruisers, and nuclear submarines. For such deep draft boats, it is really necessary to carefully prepare the seabed.

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 amphibious assaults landed on the islands. The ownership of some of the islands was not secured by international treaties.

Japan claims the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan islands of the Kuril ridge and a group of small Habomai islands, referring to the Shimonoseki Treaty of 1855. The island of Matua, which Shoigu spoke about, does not belong to the disputable group - it is located in another part of the ridge, in its central region.

Russia insists that the islands belong to it, referring to the inadmissibility of revising the results of World War II.

Island as base

The Kuril Islands are located in a strategically important area: they separate the Sea of ​​Okhotsk from Pacific Ocean, as if blocking access to it from the southern coast of the Russian Far East.

During the Second World War, a powerful system of fortifications, airfields, and naval bases was built on the islands. One of the objects was located just on Matua - there are still coastal concrete fortifications on the island, the remains of an airfield, warehouses, shelters.

Image copyright Google

In Soviet times and until 2001, there was a frontier post on the island, but in recent years the island has remained uninhabited.

At present, the 18th machine gun and artillery division (the only such formation in the Russian army) is deployed on the Kuril Islands with reinforcement units on Iturup and Kunashir. Recently, coastal missile systems "Bal" and "Bastion", as well as anti-aircraft systems "Buk" were placed 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 and 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 during the winter months, is difficult due to the fact that the Sea of ​​Okhotsk freezes in this place.

Image copyright NASA

In any case, building a large base on it will be extremely costly.

However, Russia seems ready to spend. On the one hand, the Kremlin has long sought to expand its military presence in the oceans. 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 landing 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 deploying a ship formation of the Pacific Fleet in the Kuril Islands was considered. It is advantageous to create a base on the islands for the sole reason - direct access to the ocean. Of the places that were identified as suitable for it by geometry, the difficulties were as follows. First - difficult ice conditions in winter. The second is the ebb and flow of about six meters. The third is strong winds," Admiral Vladimir Valuev, former commander of the Baltic Fleet, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

In the days of the USSR, which had a larger Pacific Fleet than Russia now, 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, each time Moscow and Tokyo raise it and obviously greatly unnerves both sides.

What base can Russia afford?

Speaking about the scale of the future facility, Senator Franz Klintsevich said that the new base will be able to receive any ships, including the first rank.

At the same time, Klintsevich used the word "base", that is, he meant a rather large object, which should include not only berths, but also infrastructure for the maintenance of ships, ideally a dock and a shipyard, barracks for crew accommodation and base personnel, air defense units and the airfield.

And all this - on an island with an area of ​​​​52 square kilometers, a significant part of which is occupied by a volcano.

Vasily Kashin, a senior researcher at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, told the BBC that as a result, only a small ship logistics center could appear on Matua, in Syria, and Russia would invest money in the 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 tugboats, 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 (of the first rank) can approach the island, it remains to be seen how many such ships can be serviced there at the same time and how much service they can receive there.

Image copyright AFP Image caption In 2010, the then President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev visited the Kuriles

Frants Klintsevich, Deputy Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of the Federation Council, announced the construction of a naval base in the Kuriles. This is not the first mention of a military facility on the islands, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke about this earlier, but for the first time this project was talked about in the present tense.

"The decision has been made. It is under implementation," Klintsevich said, without specifying exactly where the military facility would be located.

Perhaps he had in mind the island of Matua - a small piece of land in the center of the Kuril chain. 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 (Pacific Fleet) had already visited the island. The second expedition began in the summer of 2017 and continues to this day.

• Russian senator: the decision on the naval base in the Kuril Islands has been made
• Will Putin agree to the return of the Kuril Islands to Japan?
• Japan regrets the deployment of Russian missiles in the Kuriles

"Specialists conducted more than 1,000 laboratory studies on physical, chemical and biological indicators, made more than 200 measurements of the relief and the external environment. Radiation and chemical reconnaissance was also carried out, the fortifications of the island and more than 100 historical objects were examined. Divers carried out work on a hydrographic study of bays and bays of the island of Matua," the RGS website says.

The reports of the expeditions talk a lot about the study of marine invertebrates and algae, the study of the activity of the Sarychev Peak volcano, but if the Ministry of Defense is really going to build a base on this island, then hydrographic studies of the relief of the seabed and the study of the remains of Japanese military installations are most likely especially important for it. .

The new base will be able to receive any ships, including the first rank, Klintsevich said on Thursday, without specifying which ships will be based at this facility.

The ships of the first rank include aircraft carriers, destroyers, missile and anti-submarine cruisers, and nuclear submarines. For such deep draft boats, it is really necessary to carefully prepare the seabed.

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 amphibious assaults landed on the islands. The ownership of some of the islands was not secured by international treaties.

Japan claims the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan islands of the Kuril ridge and a group of small Habomai islands, referring to the Shimonoseki Treaty of 1855. The island of Matua, which Shoigu spoke about, does not belong to the disputable group - it is located in another part of the ridge, in its central region.

Russia insists that the islands belong to it, referring to the inadmissibility of revising the results of World War II.

Island as 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 the Second World War, a powerful system of fortifications, airfields, and naval bases was built on the islands. One of the objects was located just on Matua - there are still coastal concrete fortifications on the island, the remains of an airfield, warehouses, shelters.

In Soviet times and until 2001, there was a frontier post on the island, but in recent years the island has remained uninhabited.

At present, the 18th machine gun and artillery division (the only such formation in the Russian army) is deployed on the Kuril Islands with reinforcement units on Iturup and Kunashir. Recently, coastal missile systems "Bal" and "Bastion", as well as anti-aircraft systems "Buk" were placed 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 and 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 during the winter months, is difficult due to the fact that the Sea of ​​Okhotsk freezes in this place.

In any case, building a large base on it will be extremely costly.

However, Russia seems ready to spend. On the one hand, the Kremlin has long sought to expand its military presence in the oceans. 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 landing 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 deploying a ship formation of the Pacific Fleet in the Kuril Islands was considered. It is advantageous to create a base on the islands for the sole reason - direct access to the ocean. Of the places that were identified as suitable for it by geometry, the difficulties were as follows. First - difficult ice conditions in winter. The second is the ebb and flow of about six meters. The third is strong winds," Admiral Vladimir Valuev, former commander of the Baltic Fleet, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

In the days of the USSR, which had a larger Pacific Fleet than Russia now, 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, each time Moscow and Tokyo raise it and obviously greatly unnerves both sides.

What base can Russia afford?

Speaking about the scale of the future facility, Senator Franz Klintsevich said that the new base will be able to receive any ships, including the first rank.

At the same time, Klintsevich used the word "base", that is, he meant a rather large object, which should include not only berths, but also infrastructure for the maintenance of ships, ideally a dock and a shipyard, barracks for crew accommodation and base personnel, air defense units and the airfield.

And all this - on an island with an area of ​​​​52 square kilometers, a significant part of which is occupied by a volcano.

• Tartus: the "gas station" that dreams of becoming a base

Vasily Kashin, a senior researcher at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, told the BBC that as a result, only a small ship logistics center could appear on Matua, in Syria, and Russia would invest money in the 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 tugboats, 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 (of the first rank) can approach the island, it remains to be seen how many such ships can be serviced there at the same time and how much service they can receive there.

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