Battle of the Kuril Islands
| Invasion of the Kuril Islands | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Soviet-Japanese War | |||||||||
 Location of the Kuril Islands in the Western Pacific. |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Soviet Union
|
 Empire of Japan
|
||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
A.S. Ksenofontov |
Tsutsumi Fusaki |
||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 15,000 troops | 80,000 troops | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 1,567 killed or wounded | 1,018 killed or wounded 50,422 captured |
||||||||
The Invasion of the Kuril Islands (Russian: Курильская десантная операция "Kuril Islands Landing Operation") was the World War II Soviet military operation to capture the Kuril Islands from Japan in 1945. The invasion was part of the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, and was decided on when plans to land on Hokkaido were abandoned. The successful military operations of the Red Army at Mudanjiang and during the Invasion of South Sakhalin created the necessary prerequisites for invasion of the Kuril Islands.
The operation took place between August 18 and September 1. The attack was made by the 87th Rifle Corps (Guards Lieutenant General A. S. Ksenofontov) of the 16th Army (Lieutenant General L. G. Cheremisov) from the 2nd Far Eastern Front, and elements of the Kamchatka Defense Area (Major General A. R. Gnechko commanding). Ships and transportation were drawn from the Petropavlovsk military base (Captain D. G. Ponomarev). The 128th Airborne Division also provied support.
The islands were occupied by the Japanese 91st Infantry Division (Shiashkotan, Paramushir, Shumshu, and Onekotan), 42nd Division (Shimushiro), 41st Independent Regiment (Matua Island), 129th Independent Brigade (Urup Island), and 89th Infantry Division (Iturup and Kunashiri). The Japanese commander was Lieutenant General Tsutsumi Fusaki.
...
Wikipedia