Comment by the Information and Press Department on the information campaign launched in Japan over the 75th anniversary of the USSR’s entry into war against Japanese militarism
We were bound to notice the information campaign launched in Japan over the USSR’s entry into the war against Japanese militarism. Russia is being groundlessly accused of the ostensibly treacherous violation of the Soviet-Japanese pact on neutrality and the Red Army’s aggressive actions in Manchuria. Almost all leading Japanese publications wrote about this. It seems that some people in Japan live in a parallel history that is far from reality. In this context, we would like to recall some objective historical facts.
The USSR entered the war in the Far East on August 9, 1945 in full conformity with the international legal standards of that time, as well as the historical and legal circumstances. The Soviet-Japanese pact on neutrality of April 13, 1941 was nullified when the Soviet Government made a statement on April 5, 1945 to the effect that the circumstances had undergone a major change, notably, that militarist Japan had rendered aid to Nazi Germany in fighting against our country, which was in violation of this pact. The statement was justified later by the materials of the Tokyo Military Tribunal of November 4 ̶ 12, 1948 and the relevant provisions of the UN Charter.
The Soviet Union conscientiously fulfilled the Yalta agreements of the allied powers of February 11, 1945. Initially, the requests to enter the war with Japan were made by the US and Britain in Tehran in 1943. On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union emphasised in its statement to Japan that these requests were the prompted by the desire to reduce the timeframe of the war, reduce the number of victims and facilitate the restoration of universal peace as soon as possible. As stated, this is exactly why the Soviet Government joined the Potsdam Declaration of July 26, 1945. Incidentally, the fact that this was the only option for peace in the world is reaffirmed in the decree of the Japanese Emperor of August 14, 1945 and the act of his signing the document on the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on September 2, 1945.
Having acted against Japan, Hitler’s ally, which unleashed the aggression in Asia and the Pacific, the Soviet Union fulfilled its liberating mission in the Far East, mainly in China and Korea, which were occupied by the militarists. In combination with the operations on Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands, this became the long-awaited final act of World War II and made it possible to move on to a peaceful life and lay the foundation for the current system of international relations with the UN as its centre. The facts confirming the above events are illustrated by unique archive materials that are published on the Foreign Ministry website. We advise anyone interested in this to read them.
The current excesses in the Japanese media are reminiscent of medieval Japan tradition of forcing foreigners to “trample on the crucifix,” as vividly described by Jonathan Swift. In this case, we are talking about the history of World War II, which is sacred to us. A desire to present those who were identified as war criminals by the Tokyo Tribunal as “victims of aggression” is close to an attempt to justify them. In civilised countries, including Russia, this is considered a crime punishable by law. We hope Japanese authorities will take adequate measures as regards those who behave like this.
