YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK. Aug 11 (Interfax) - A search team has found the remains of five Soviet and three Japanese soldiers, who died in the mountains of central Sakhalin's Smirnykhovsky district during World War II, in the course of the current expedition, Valentin Golovin, the head of the Aviapoisk Sakhalin Search Team non-governmental organization, told Interfax.
"The remains of two Red Army soldiers were found during a search expedition 4 kilometers from the village of Pobedino, Smirnykhovsky district, at a hill dubbed Verblyud (Camel) on August 9, their affiliation was determined by their boots. Their personal effects were a cartridge magazine from a Mosin rifle, a folding hunting knife, and a gas mask. No items allowing for establishing their identities, such as spoons or pots with inscribed initials, were found," Golovin said.
The remains of a total of five Red Army soldiers and three soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army, including one officer who had a gold dental crown, which, according to the search team, only middle- and high-ranking officers of the Japanese Army could afford, were found during the current expedition, he said.
"We find small opium pipes on almost all Japanese soldiers. We found such a pipe on the Japanese officer found this time; his buttons, buckles, cartridges, and a box for a seal were also preserved. We identify Japanese soldiers at once by their distinctive shoes, waist belts, and cartridge pouch buckles common only in the Japanese army," Golovin said.
"All findings are unique, and it's very difficult to unearth them. They used to think that all Soviet soldiers were buried in 1945 after the liberation of Sakhalin. But no. Remains are scattered over a vast territory, this is why every find is a most valuable relic for us and a tribute to the fallen," he said.
In the majority of cases, soldiers whose remains were found in the Smirnykhovsky district, had died from heavy fragmentation wounds, he said. "There was consistent mortar shelling there in 1945," he said.
Remains of Red Army soldiers will be buried will full honors at the Glory Memorial in the village of Pobedino, Smirnykhovsky district, on August 22. Remains of Japanese troops will traditionally be handed over to Japan in the fall of 2017 to be buried at home.
The land border between the Soviet Union and Japan ran along the 50th parallel, where the Smirnykhovsky district is now, in Sakhalin during World War II. The Japanese built the strong Kharamitog fortified region on their side of the border. Over 5,000 soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army defended it. They were armed with artillery, tanks and aircraft. About 2,500 Soviet and Japanese troops died in battles for the fortified region in 1945.
Search teams have found over 5,000 mines, grenades and aerial bombs, which were subsequently forwarded to sappers for disposal, in the area of the Kharamitog heights. Search teams find remains of deceased soldiers in places covered with shell casings and grenade fragments, they said.