Sakhalin

Sakhalin (Russian: Сахалин) is a large Russian island in the North Pacific Ocean, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N. It is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast. Sakhalin, which is about one fifth the size of Japan, is just off the east coast of Russia, and just north of Japan.

The indigenous peoples of the island are the Ainu, Oroks and Nivkhs. Formerly under Chinese control in earlier centuries, Sakhalin has been claimed by both Russia and Japan over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries. This has led to bitter disputes between the two countries over control of the island. Russia seized the island from the Japanese near the end of World War II. Most Ainu moved to Hokkaidō when the Japanese were displaced from the island in 1949.

Sakhalin in Joe Steele
As an opening move in Operation: Downfall, the Soviet Union seized the southern half of Sakhalin from the Japanese to use as a base for the invasion of Hokkaido.