Zelyony (russian: links=yes, translit=Ostrov Zelyony, Остров Зелёный'','' ; , ) is an unpopulated and uninhabited island in the Kuril Island chain,

Sakhalin Oblast Sakhalin Oblast ( rus, Сахали́нская о́бласть, r=Sakhalínskaya óblast', p=səxɐˈlʲinskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast) comprising the island of Sakhalin and the K ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Although it is administered by Russia and had been previously by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, it has been claimed by Japan since 1945.

History

Zelyony was first mapped in 1739 by the Danish-Russian explorer

Martin Spanberg __NOTOC__ Martin Spanberg (d. 1761; russian: Мартын Петрович Шпанберг, ''Martyn Petrovich Shpanberg'') was a Danish naval officer in Russian service who took part with his compatriot Vitus Bering in both Kamchatka expedition ...

. The island was known to the Japanese as Shibotsu-tō, but never settled, and Russia claimed jurisdiction over it. In 1855, jurisdiction was transferred to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and the island was settled. In 1945, its population was 2,149. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Japanese military garrison surrendered to Soviet troops, the island was incorporated into the Soviet Union, and the Japanese population was repatriated to Japan. Although it has been officially uninhabited since, it was garrisoned from 1945 onward by the Soviet military. Zelyony was the site of an incident between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the Soviet Union in April 1983. As part of the US-

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n joint

military exercise A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the com ...

Team Spirit Team Spirit was a joint military training exercise of United States Forces Korea and the Military of South Korea held between 1974 and 1993. The exercise was also scheduled from 1994 to 1996 but cancelled during this time period as part of diploma ...

, six U.S. navy Corsair II attack aircraft flew over the island. The Soviet Union protested the incursion and a Soviet retaliatory flight over the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

was considered. Due to the Kuril Islands' disputed status, an American apology would have tacitly approved of the Soviet Union's presence and hurt Japan's claim to the island. As a result, the incident raised tensions between the USA and the USSR.

References

Islands of the Kuril Islands Islands of the Sea of Okhotsk Islands of the Russian Far East {{SakhalinOblast-geo-stub