Russia released on Tuesday five Japanese fishing boats seized in waters near Russian-held, Japan-claimed islands the previous week.The release came after the crews of the boats paid a fine of some 6.4 million rubles ($103,000) ordered by a Russian court on Monday for violating regulations on the size of catch that Japanese vessels can take from waters around the islands, the Russian border guard said.The five vessels, crewed by 24 people in total, departed for Nemuro in eastern Hokkaido on Tuesday morning and arrived in the port city in the afternoon.A lawyer for the Japanese fishermen said…READ FULL ARTICLE
