The first plane this year with a Japanese delegation on board landed at the Mendeleyevo airport as part of visa-free flights from Japan to the Kuril Islands, airport's director Sergei Gorbatovsky said, Sputnik reported.
"A plane of the Aurora airlines landed at our airport at 12:74 p.m. local time [01:47 GMT]. The plane departed from Nakashibetsu on the island of Hokkaido an hour later than scheduled," Gorbatovsky said.
A major part of the Japanese delegation are former residents of the Kuril Islands. They are expected to visit graves of their family members on Kunashir and Iturup.
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