Which Soviet leader authorized the 1945 declaration of war on Japan?

Joseph Stalin authorized the Soviet Union’s 1945 declaration of war on Japan.

Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov delivered the declaration to Japan’s ambassador in Moscow on 8 August 1945. The Soviet government stated that hostilities would begin on 9 August, and Soviet forces soon invaded Japanese-held Manchuria.

The Soviet decision followed commitments made at the Yalta Conference and ended the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact. The timing was significant: the Soviet attack began between the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and added a major military crisis for Japan’s leaders.

Molotov delivered the diplomatic notice, but Stalin was the Soviet leader who directed the government. The event is therefore often discussed alongside, rather than confused with, the separate American atomic attacks and Japan’s internal surrender debate.