Vyacheslav Molotov was the Soviet foreign minister who notified Japan’s ambassador of the Soviet Union’s 1945 declaration of war.
Molotov delivered the notification to Japanese ambassador Naotake Satō in Moscow on 8 August 1945. The Soviet government stated that it would consider itself at war with Japan from 9 August.
Soviet forces then launched a major offensive into Japanese-held Manchuria shortly after midnight on 9 August. The attack broke the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact and opened a new front against Japan’s remaining empire.
Molotov is sometimes confused with Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader who authorized the policy, or Georgy Zhukov, a famous Soviet commander. Molotov’s specific role here was diplomatic: he formally delivered the declaration.