Russia's Rogozin proposes Russian names for disputed Kuril Islands

FILE PHOTO: Signs demanding the return of a group of islands, called the Northern Territories in Japanese and the Kuril Islands in Russian, are displayed at Hanasaki Port, in Nemuro on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido April 12, 2022. REUTERS/Daniel Leussink/File Photo

(Reuters) - Russia's Roscosmos space agency director general, Dmitry Rogozin, said on Monday that the Kuril Islands, a subject of territorial dispute with Japan, could be renamed after Russian ships and events of the early 20th century's Russo-Japanese War.

The territorial dispute over the isles - which Russia says are part of its Kuril chain and which Japan calls its Northern Territories - has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from reaching a peace treaty formally ending World War Two hostilities.