Invasion of the Kuril Islands
The Invasion of the Kuril Islands was a Soviet military operation against Japan in the last days of the Second World War. It never turned on one great battle. It moved instead from island to island across a long chain, over a span of about two weeks in late summer 1945. Its Russian name translates roughly as the Kuril landing operation, and landings were exactly what it consisted of. The story raises several questions. Why were these islands chosen, and what was meant to happen elsewhere? Who defended them, and with what? Did Japan's surrender stop the fighting? And who, today, has the right to the islands that were taken?
Hokkaido was the prize Soviet planners once had in their sights. The Kuril operation was decided on only after plans to land there were abandoned. The islands became the alternative objective. Two earlier successes by the Red Army made that alternative realistic. One was the fighting at Mutanchiang. The other was the invasion of South Sakhalin. Together they created what the operation's chroniclers call the necessary prerequisites for taking the Kurils. The campaign belonged to the wider Soviet-Japanese War, and it was one of that war's final undertakings. Before any soldier could land, a force had to be assembled from two separate Soviet commands.
The attack was carried out by the 87th Rifle Corps, commanded by Guards Lieutenant General A. S. Ksenofontov. That corps belonged to the 16th Army under Lieutenant General Leonty Cheremisov, part of the 2nd Far Eastern Front. Alongside it worked elements of the Kamchatka Defense Area, led by Major General Alexey Gnechko. The order of battle lists the 355th Rifle Division and the 113th Separate Rifle Brigade under the 87th Rifle Corps. Kamchatka's contribution included the 101st Rifle Division and a separate rifle regiment. The sea arm operated from the Petropavlosk naval base. The Pacific Fleet committed 60 ships and vessels, transports included. Captain Dmitry Ponomarev oversaw the ships and transportation drawn from that base. Marines came from the 365th Marine Battalion, and the 60th Border Guards Detachment also took part. Air cover came from the 128th Composite Air Division, which had 78 aircraft. The 2nd Independent Naval Aviation Bomber Regiment and a coastal artillery battery completed the list. Waiting for these forces was a Japanese defense spread thinly over many separate islands.
Lieutenant General Fusaki Tsutsumi commanded the Japanese side. His troops belonged to the 5th Area Army and the 27th Army of the Imperial Japanese Army. No single force held the whole chain. The 91st Infantry Division occupied Shiashkotan, Paramushir, Shumshu and Onekotan. The 42nd Division held Simushir, and the 41st Independent Regiment was posted on Matua. On Urup stood the 129th Independent Brigade, while the 89th Infantry Division covered Iturup and Kunashir. The defenders also included an 11th Tank Regiment and a 31st Air Defence Regiment on Shumshu. Navy marines and guard units, including Nos. 51 and 52, added a naval element. Each island therefore faced a different unit, and that shaped how the Soviet landings unfolded.
The two mine trawlers numbered TSCH-589 and TSCH-590 carried the first Soviet troops ashore on the 18th of August. Aboard was a reconnaissance detachment of the 113th Separate Rifle Brigade, led by Captain-Lieutenant G. I. Brunshtein. Their destination was Rubetzu Bay on the island of Iturup. The 355th Rifle Division then continued the landings on Iturup. The same division also landed on the smaller island of Urup. Further north, the Kamchatka Defense Area got moving soon after. From the 22nd to the 28th of August, its troops occupied the Kuril Islands from Urup northward. A surrender order was already circulating by then, and not everyone on the Japanese side obeyed it.
On the 23rd of August, the Japanese garrisons on the islands were ordered to surrender. They numbered about 20,000 men, and the order formed part of Japan's general surrender. Some units ignored it and kept resisting the Soviet occupation. The southern islands saw the clearest example of this. On the 1st of September, elements of the 87th Rifle Corps sailed from Otomari. They traveled by torpedo boats, mine trawlers and transports to Kunashir and Shikotan. This was an assault landing against Japanese resistance. On the 4th of September, the corps occupied five smaller islands: Sibotzu, Taraku-Shima, Uri-Shima, Akiuri and Suiseto. After that date, Soviet forces took the rest of the Kurils without further resistance.
The Kuril Islands stayed under Russian control after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Their true legal status, however, remains in question. Russia and Japan are parties to the Kuril Islands dispute, and that disagreement is still unresolved. Every landing of 1945, from the trawlers at Rubetzu Bay to the five small islands occupied on the 4th of September, lies behind that open question.
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Common questions
What was the Invasion of the Kuril Islands?
The Invasion of the Kuril Islands was a Soviet military operation in 1945 to capture the Kuril Islands from Japan during the Second World War. It was part of the Soviet-Japanese War.
When did the Invasion of the Kuril Islands take place?
The Invasion of the Kuril Islands took place between the 18th of August and the 1st of September 1945. Soviet forces occupied five smaller islands on the 4th of September, and the rest of the chain was taken after that without further resistance.
Why did the Soviet Union invade the Kuril Islands instead of Hokkaido?
The Kuril operation was decided on when plans to land on Hokkaido were abandoned. Earlier Red Army successes at Mutanchiang and in the invasion of South Sakhalin created the prerequisites for it.
Who commanded the forces in the Invasion of the Kuril Islands?
The Soviet attack was made by the 87th Rifle Corps under Guards Lieutenant General A. S. Ksenofontov, within the 16th Army of Lieutenant General Leonty Cheremisov. Major General Alexey Gnechko led elements of the Kamchatka Defense Area, and Lieutenant General Fusaki Tsutsumi commanded the Japanese side.
Did Japanese troops keep fighting during the Invasion of the Kuril Islands after the surrender order?
Some did. On the 23rd of August 1945, the roughly 20,000 Japanese troops on the islands were ordered to surrender, but some garrison forces ignored the order and kept resisting. The 1st of September landing on Kunashir and Shikotan was an assault landing against Japanese resistance.
Who owns the Kuril Islands after the Invasion of the Kuril Islands?
The islands remained part of Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Their true legal status remains in question because of the Kuril Islands dispute between Russia and Japan.
All sources
7 references cited across the entry
- 1BookAugust Storm: The Soviet 1945 Strategic Offensive in ManchuriaDavid Glantz — Frank Cass Publishers
- 7BookAugust Storm: The Soviet 1945 Strategic Offensive in ManchuriaDavid Glantz — FRANK CASS PUBLISHERS