Shumshu was the site of the first major Soviet-Japanese battle after Japan announced its surrender in 1945.
The Battle of Shumshu took place from 18 to 23 August 1945, in the northern Kuril Islands. Soviet forces landed against Japanese defenders even though Emperor Hirohito had announced Japan’s acceptance of surrender terms on 15 August.
Japanese forces on Shumshu, Paramushiro, and Onekotan signed an unconditional surrender agreement on 19 August, but fighting on Shumshu continued until 23 August. The battle was the only major clash of the Soviet Kuril campaign and is often described as arguably the final major battle of World War II.
The Soviet Union completed its occupation of the Kuril chain by 5 September 1945. Shumshu is therefore connected both to the closing military operations of the war and to the territorial dispute that continued between Russia and Japan after 1945.