Russia will send two Navy vessels to the disputed Kuril Islands in the Pacific, the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, a move likely to anger Japan, which lays claim to them.

The Defense Ministry said the large landing ship Admiral Nevelskoi and the tugboat Kalar will visit three of the four islands in the Kuril chain, known in Japan as the Northern Territories, to take part in ceremonies honoring Soviet sailors who died there at the end of World War II.

The Pacific Fleet ships are scheduled to travel between Aug. 25 and Sept. 17, the ministry said, coinciding with a summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in Vladivostok.

(Reuters)