Russians protest against possible return of Kuril Islands to Japan

The Soviet-Japanese declaration signed in 1956 is null and void now

Members of a massive demonstration of protest against the possible return of Kuril Islands to Japan urged the Russian government not to give away the Russian territory. The demonstration took place on Saturday in Sakhalin, the Far East of Russia. Almost 4,000 residents of the Sakhalin region and the Kuril Islands gathered to express their protest against the government's intention, Interfax reports.

The Soviet-Japanese declaration signed in 1956 is null and void now, a deputy of the Sakhalin regional Duma, Sergei Ponomarev stated at the meeting. According to the deputy, Soviet officials violated the Constitution of the Russian Federation, when they ratified and signed the document.

Article 16 of the Constitution stipulated the agreement of the Russian Federation for a change of its borders. The agreement was not received, the deputy said, and a group of specialists found documented evidence in the archives to prove it. “The Russian Federation was a part of the USSR, it was an object of the international right, for it was a UN member,” the deputy said.

Local residents send hundreds of letters to the Sakhalin regional Duma: people protest against the possible return of the islands to Japan. “We have sent several packages of such letters to the president and we will continue this work,” Sergei Ponomarev said.

Members of the Russian public organization “For the Integrity of the Russian Eastern Territory” took part in the demonstration too, as well as members of the Liberal and Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), the Communist Party (KPRF), the Fatherland, and others.

Over three thousand signatures have been collected as a result of the meeting: the people signed an address to the Russian administration, urging governmental officials to decline the plan to hand over Kuril Islands to Japan.

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Author`s name Olga Savka
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