Back-Stabbing Becomes Russia, Entering International Pacts to Break Them

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Eight decades ago, on August 9, Russia (then called the Soviet Union) violated the bilateral neutrality pact and entered the war against Japan. After invading Manchuria (Manchukuo), the Soviet Red Army unilaterally invaded South Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the Kuril Islands. In all these areas, it killed not only Japanese soldiers but also murdered and raped innocent civilians.

Russia's wartime actions were lawless to the extreme. They led to the illegal occupation of Japan's Northern Territories and postwar internment in Siberia of hundreds of thousands of Japanese POWs and civilians in forced labor camps. The hardships that many Japanese endured from the end of the war into the postwar period due to Soviet brutality were immeasurable.

*A soldier's helmet lies in the field on Shumshu in the Northern Territories, illegally invaded by Russia after Japan's surrender. (©Sankei)*

Violation of the Neutrality Pact

The Japan-Soviet Neutrality Pact was signed in April 1941 and was supposed to be valid for five years. It provided for mutual non-aggression and guaranteed that each party would remain neutral if the other nation were attacked by a third country.

The two signatories also pledged to respect the territorial integrity of Outer Mongolia and Manchukuo. It was because Japan scrupulously abided by the treaty that the Soviet Union was able to focus on and win the battle against Nazi Germany.

Despite this fact, the Soviet Union unilaterally abrogated the neutrality pact. It then dealt a surprise attack on Japan, which was already in shock due to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Today, Russia touts this as its "victory over Japan." However, it conceals the fact that it violated the Neutrality Pact. Its conduct is outrageous.

*World War II Japanese soldiers interned by Soviet Union in Siberia. (©Sankei)*

Even after Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration on August 14, the Soviet Red Army continued its attacks. Emperor Showa (Emperor Hirohito) broadcast the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War on August 15. However, Soviet troops invaded the Kuril Islands on August 18 and completed their occupation of the Northern Territories on September 5. Japan had already signed the instrument of surrender on September 2.

Targeting Civilians with Horrors

During this time, the Red Army also targeted civilians. One such horror was the Kakkonbyo (Gegenmiao) Incident that took place in Inner Mongolia during the invasion of Manchuria. Red Army troops massacred over 1,000 civilians. They also sank a repatriation ship from Sakhalin off the coast of Rumoi, Hokkaido. Japanese babies who were born during this chaotic repatriation process were left behind as orphans in China. (They are called Chugoku zanryu koji.)

Approximately 600,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians were deported to Siberia, other regions of the Soviet Union, and Mongolia. Until they were rounded up by the Red Army, they had been living in Manchuria, Korea, and other Japanese-controlled areas. Roughly 60,000 of them ended up dying from forced labor, starvation, and related causes.

This mass internment was also in violation of the Potsdam Declaration. It stipulated that Japanese officers and soldiers would be returned to their homeland after being disarmed. Furthermore, it also violated international law. For Russia, as with the Soviet Union before, international agreements and laws seem to exist only to be broken.

*Russia holds a "victory day" parade on May 9, 2023, displaying its war weapons on the Japanese island of Etorofu in the Russian-occupied Northern Territories. (Provided by island residents via Kyodo)*

A History of Breaking Its Agreements

This is also the case with the current invasion of Ukraine. Under the 1994 Budapest Agreement, Ukraine received security guarantees from the United States, Britain, and Russia in exchange for abandoning its nuclear weapons. Despite Ukraine's compliance, Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine proper in 2022.

We must not turn a blind eye to Russia's illegal actions. Moreover, we dare not forget the true nature of Russia as a country that continues to break its promises without compunction.