Japan’s protest over Russian soldier statue aggravates ‘summer of tension’

Intelligence summary

Russia has rebuffed a strongly worded complaint from Japan about the unveiling of a statue in the city of Khabarovsk depicting a Soviet soldier smashing an imperial-era border marker bearing the emblem of the Japanese emperor, with analysts suggesting the bilateral relations will inevitably remain chilly. The 15-metre granite monument to the Soviet Union’s victory over Japan in 1945 shows a soldier using the butt of his rifle to shatter the border post, identical to the former markers installed.