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USSR entered the war with Japan
In accordance with the agreements reached at the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences by the leaders of the three countries of the Anti-Hitler Coalition (Great Britain, the USSR, and the USA), the Soviet Union, on August 9, 1945, entered the war against Japan in order to end the last remaining conflict of World War II.
At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the three Allied powers agreed that the Soviet Union would enter the war with Japan within three months of the end of hostilities in Europe, if certain conditions were met. These conditions included the return of Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, recognition of Mongolia as an independent nation, leasing of Port Arthur, and restoration of the Chinese Eastern Railway.
After denouncing the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact of 1941 on April 5, 1945, preparations for the invasion began in June, with over 400,000 troops being transferred from Europe to the Far East within three months.
After receiving confirmation from the USSR at the Potsdam Conference (July 17 - August 2, 1945), the United States, Great Britain, and China issued the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945 calling on Japan to surrender unconditionally. In response to Japan's refusal, the US carried out atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945. Although these attacks had a significant impact on Japan's leadership, General Yamada Otodzo's Kwantung Army, with more than 1 million soldiers, continued to fight in Manchuria and Korea. To counter this, the Soviet Union concentrated more than 1.7 million troops on three fronts - Trans-Baikal, 1st Far Eastern, and 2nd Far Eastern.
Under the general supervision of Marshal A. Vasilevsky, with the support of the Pacific Fleet and Amur Military Flotilla, Soviet troops were tasked with delivering powerful blows to the Kwantung Army's flanks and completing its defeat.
On August 8, 1945, at 17:00 Moscow time, V. Molotov, the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, handed over a note to the Japanese ambassador Naotake Sato from the Soviet government. The note stated that from August 9, the Soviet Union would consider itself at war with Japan. On August 10, the Mongolian People's Republic also declared war on Japan.
On August 9, Soviet troops launched an offensive along a front with a total length of over 5 thousand kilometers. During the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, the South Sakhalin Offensive Operation, and the Kuril Landing Operation, the Kwantung Army, the main land force of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces during World War II, was defeated. Northeast China, North Korea, South Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands were liberated. During 23 days of fighting, the Japanese army suffered about 84,000 casualties and more than 640,000 prisoners.
Despite the fact that on August 15, 1945, at 12:00 Tokyo time, Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Japan in a radio message to his subjects, Japanese troops continued to fight against the Red Army and only surrendered everywhere by September 2. On that day, at 9:02 Tokyo time (4:02 Moscow time), the unconditional surrender of Japan was signed aboard the American battleship Missouri, bringing an end to World War II.
Since 2023, Russia has celebrated the day of its military glory on September 3 - the Day of Victory over Japan and the end of World War II in 1945.
Lit.: Советско-японская война 1945 // Большая российская энциклопедия [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://bigenc.ru/c/sovetsko-iaponskaia-voina-1945-2d5065/?v=9246670; Боевое содружество СССР, Великобритании и США: сборник материалов и документов. Вологда, 1942; Ванин Ю. К 60-летию освобождения Кореи // Сеульский вестник. 2005. № 97; Василевский А. М. На Дальнем Востоке // Дело всей жизни. М., 1978; Василевский А. М. Дело всей жизни. М., 1990; Великая Отечественная война 1941–1945 годов. В 12 т. Т. 5. Победный финал. Завершающие операции Великой Отечественной войны в Европе. Война с Японией. М., 2013 [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://encyclopedia.mil.ru/files/VOV/tom5/VOV_Vol5_495-602_Chap7.pdf; Великая победа советских войск на Дальнем Востоке: (сборник статей) / Главное политическое управление Красной Армии. Хабаровск, 1945; Внотченко Л. Н. Победа на Дальнем Востоке: военно-исторический очерк о боевых действиях советских войск в августе – сентябре 1945 г. М., 1966; Ланьков А. Н. Северная Корея 1945–1948 гг.: рождение государства // Северная Корея: вчера и сегодня. М., 1995; Освобождение Кореи. М., 1976; Шабшина Ф. И. Очерки новейшей истории Кореи (1918–1945). М., 1959.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Anniversary of Korea liberation by Soviet Army // On this day. 15 August 1945;
Soviet-Japanese War of 1945: [digital collection];
1945: From the War to the Post-War World: [digital collection].