(CNN) -- Russia's president visited the disputed Kuril Islands on Monday, over Japanese protest, Russian state media said.
The Japanese government, which had urged against the visit, quickly responded after the trip. Prime Minister Naoto Kan called it ''extremely deplorable,'' according to the Kyodo news agency.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited the island of Kunashiri.
He made the stop during an Asian tour that included a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations over the weekend in Vietnam.
The Kurils are a chain of more than 50 islands in the northwest Pacific. The Russians have occupied them since World War II.
CNN
