RUSSIA has staged a military show of strength by firing missiles off its warships near Japan after Tokyo claimed sovereignty over the disputed Kuril Islands. The Kuril archipelago was grabbed by Stalin at the end of the Second World War - but Japan refuses to accept Moscow’s jurisdiction.... ...The latest show of strength follows a Japanese diplomatic protest in June, when Putin ordered drills involving 10,000 troops, 500 military vehicles and 12 warships on the Kuril islands of Iturup, Kunashir, as well as on Russia’s largest island Sakhalin. Officially Japan and Russia have still not signed a peace treaty ending...