RUSSIA: Japanese FM lays flowers on graves of nationals who died in captivity in Soviet Union after World War II

Record ID: 462886

  • Title: RUSSIA: Japanese FM lays flowers on graves of nationals who died in captivity in Soviet Union after World War II
  • Date: 13th February 2011
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (FEBRUARY 12, 2011) (REUTERS) DONSKOI CEMETERY JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER SEIJI MAEHARA APPROACHES GRAVES OF JAPANESE OFFICIALS AS HIS ASSISTANT CARRIES FLOWERS JAPANESE ARMY OFFICER TELLING MAEHARA ABOUT JAPANESE BURIED AT CEMETERY VARIOUS OF MAEHARA, OFFICIALS LISTENING OFFICER SPEAKING MAEHARA PRAYING AT GRAVE JAPANESE GRAVE WITH FLOWERS MAEHARA LAYING FLOWERS AT ANOTHER GRAVE, PRAYING JAPANESE GRAVE WITH FLOWERS MAEHARA PRAYS, LEAVES VARIOUS OF GRAVES WITH FLOWERS
  • Embargoed: 28th February 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA9SRHL3RQOQE7RDMT1NOQLJ4EM
  • Story Text: In a short ceremony at Moscow's Donskoi cemetery on Saturday (February 12) Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara paid tribute to Japanese officials who were detained during War II and later died in captivity in the Soviet Union.
    Maehara was on a two-day visit to Moscow during escalating tension over islands Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories.
    He laid flowers at the graves of the Japanese Consul General in Manchuria and a Japanese military advisor to the Emperor of Manchuria, a territory occupied by the Soviet Army during a military campaign against the Japanese Imperial Quatung army in August 1945, weeks ahead of the Japanese surrender.
    As part of the same military campaign, the Southern Kuril Islands, or the Japanese Northern Territories, were taken over by the Soviet Army and have remained in Soviet and Russian hands ever since.
    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev infuriated Tokyo in November by making the first visit by a Kremlin leader to the islands.
    His trip provoked a storm of protest from Tokyo, which wants the return of the desolate islands.
    On Friday (February 11) Maehara met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an attempt to find a way to overcome the dispute between Moscow and Tokyo.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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