Today in History: USSR declares war on Japan during world war II

New Delhi: The Russian invasion of Japan began on August 8, 1945, precisely three months after the German surrender on May 8 At 11pm on August 8, 1945, Soviet foreign minister Molotov informed Japanese ambassador Sato that the Soviet Union had declared war on the Empire of Japan, and that from August 9 the Soviet government would consider itself to be at war with Japan.This war is formally known as the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945.With the declaration the Soviets commenced their invasion simultaneously on three fronts to the east, west and north of Manchuria. Pouring more than 1 million Soviet soldiers into Japanese-occupied Manchuria, northeastern China, to take on the 700,000-strong Japanese army.At the time of Soviets invasion Japan was not actually expecting an attack from soviets,as it was busy fighting with Germans on the Eastern front but the Soviets surprised them with their invasion of Manchuria. As per records almost an assault out of 850 soldiers engaged at Pingyanchen,650 were killed or wounded within the first two days of fighting.The war continued till September 2, 1945 and ended with the win on Soviets and surrender of Japan. Watch the war in pics: Soviet Union invaded Manchuria, sending more than a million soldiers to attack Japan's Kwantung Army. Sherman tank in the service of Soviet Army. Japanese soldiers surrendering their rifles as a Soviet soldier records information in a book in 1945. Soviet soldiers on the bank of the Songhua River in Harbin. Flames leap from the deck of the USS Bunker Hill, after it was hit by two Kamikazes. Tanks of the Sixth Marine Division probe the outskirts of Naha, capital city of Okinawa. A Japanese prisoner of war at Guam, Mariana Islands, covers his face as he hears Japanese Emperor Hirohito making the announcement of Japan's unconditional surrender on August 15, 1945. World War II had come to an end. Sailors in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii listen to radio and cheer as Tokyo radio states Japan has accepted the Potsdam surrender terms on August 15, 1945. Soviet and American sailors in Alaska on Victory over Japan Day. The scene aboard the battleship Missouri as the Japanese surrender documents were signed in Tokyo Bay, on September 2, 1945.