TOKYO, August 9. /TASS/. Groups of far-right activists held a traditional protest rally near the Russian embassy in Tokyo to mark the 78th anniversary of Russia entering the war against Japan, a TASS correspondent reported from the site.

However, this time, in addition to anti-Russian slogans and calls to return the Northern Territories (the Japanese term for the southern part of the Kuril Islands - TASS), the radical right-wing activists were also chanting anti-American slogans via loudspeakers, condemning the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Inclement weather has also interfered with the protesters’ plans. Due to heavy rains in downtown Tokyo, they were forced to change their route and ride their vehicles with loudspeakers at a greater distance from the Russian embassy than usual. Numerous police officers have been deployed in the vicinity of the Russian diplomatic mission to prevent potential incidents.

The Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation was launched on August 9, 1945. Troops of the Transbaikal and 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, assisted by the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Military Flotilla, and with the participation of Mongolian units, defeated the Kwantung Army and liberated Manchuria, northeastern China, the northern part of Korea, southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The operation ended on September 2, 1945 with Japan capitulating, which marked the end of World War II.

The US armed forces carried out the first-ever atomic bombing in history, striking the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki toward the tail end of World War II. The bombings were officially justified as a way to accelerate the capitulation of the Empire of Japan. These attacks are the sole instance of nuclear weapons ever being used in a military conflict in human history. The United States has not recognized its moral responsibility for the bombings, instead exonerating its actions as a "military necessity."