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To elucidate the colonization routes of the grey red-backed vole on Iturup Island based on the distribution and abundance of haplotypes of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene fragment (662 bp), comparative analysis of the genetic variation of vole populations from different localities along the island perimeter and voles from Hokkaido, Kunashir, and Sakhalin islands, and as well as adjacent mainland areas, was carried out. All studied specimens of the grey red-backed voles from Iturup Island (68) were represented by a single haplotype that was the closest to the haplotypes of voles from Sakhalin Island. Only one specimen from Kunashir Island (the closest to Iturup), had the same haplotype. Three more specimens from this island were close to the haplotypes of voles from Sakhalin Island and fell into the same clade, while most of the haplotypes of Kunashir voles were close to the haplotypes of Hokkaido voles and together with them formed an independent clade, which was genetically very different from Sakhalin and Iturup voles. The obtained data on genetic variation of voles from Iturup Island strongly support recent introduction of the grey red-backed vole C. rufocanus to this island, most likely through the sea transport from Sakhalin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]