Russia denies protests from Japan over military deployments on 'Kurile islands'

Russia rejects protests from Japan over Russia's military deployments on a chain of disputed Pacific islands and reserves the right to bolster its security there as it sees fit, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday.

Both Moscow and Tokyo claim sovereignty over the Pacific islands, known in Russia as the Kurile islands and in Japan as the Northern Territories.

Russian military deployments on the islands were not aimed at neighbouring countries, the ministry said in a statement, in which it also accused Tokyo of unhelpful "megaphone" diplomacy.