THE USSR ENTERS THE WAR AGAINST JAPAN, August 8, 1945

THE 

SOVIET UNION 

DECLARES 

WAR ON JAPAN 

August 8, 1945 

"WELCOME TO SAKHALIN" 

with a map indicating Moscow 

on the upper left 

and Yuzhnosakhalinsk (the capital of Sakhalin) 

on the lower right 

When Moscow finally declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945, two days after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, it claimed  that it was acting strictly according to its treaty obligations. 

Tokyo surrendered a week later, five days after Nagasaki was also atom-bombed. 

But Moscow and Tokyo have yet to sign a peace treaty -- a World War II peace treaty.  For its efforts, the USSR got (and Russia afterwards) the southern half of Sakhalin Island (it already occupied the north) and the Kuril Islands, or, as the Japanese prefer, the/their Northern Territories. 

Tokyo does not still claim southern Sakhalin (their former Karafuto), but it is adamant about the Kurils/Northern Territories. 

For same recent developments, see here and here. 

For background and a lot more on Sakhalin, see here.