Russia informs Japan of bombing drill on disputed island

Russia has informed Japan that it will conduct a bombing drill this week on one of the four disputed islands off Hokkaido, a Japanese Foreign Ministry source said Thursday.Tokyo protested Tuesday against the exercise planned for five days through Saturday on Etorofu Island, saying the strengthening of Russia's military presence on the disputed islands is incompatible with Japan's position, the source said.Etorofu is the largest of the four Russian-held, Japanese-claimed islands, which are collectively called the Northern Territories by Tokyo and the Southern Kurils by Moscow.The development…READ FULL ARTICLE