Russia was planning an attack on Japan in 2021, according to leaked letters by Russia’s Federal Security Service, reported Newsweek.
Leaked FSB letters show Russia planned to attack Japan
Newsweek obtained additional leaked letters from the FSB, the successor body to the Soviet Union’s KGB, some months before Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
An email written to Russian human-rights activist Vladimir Osechkin on March 17 by a spy at the FSB called ‘Wind of Change’ indicated that Putin, was “quite seriously preparing for a localized military conflict with Japan” in August.
This occurred just months before Russia initiated a military involvement in Ukraine.
The FSB agent sends regular briefings to Osechkin, reflecting the service’s rage and displeasure about the war, which began on February 24 when Putin invaded neighboring Ukraine.
Since March 4, Igor Sushko, executive director of the Washington-based non-profit Wind of Change Research Group, has been translating the communication from Russian to English. He sent Newsweek the complete set of emails, along with the March 17 report.
In August last year, Russia was “quite seriously preparing for a localized military conflict with Japan,” the agent informed in an email to Osechkin in March.
FSB agent suggested Russia should invade Ukraine
According to the report, the FSB agent suggested that Russia should invade Ukraine after some months.
“Confidence that the countries would enter the stage of acute confrontation and even war was high. Why Ukraine was chosen for war in the end [the scenario was not changed much] is for others to answer,” they wrote.
The whistleblower spoke of electronic warfare helicopter operations targeting Japan. Meanwhile, Russia’s propaganda machine was also activated, with a large push to paint the Japanese as “Nazis” and “fascists.”
Christo Grozev, an FSB expert, examined a letter written by the whistleblower and published by Osechkin. He claimed he showed the letter “to two actual (current or former) FSB contacts” who had “no doubt it was written by a colleague.”
Tensions between Russia and Japan worsened with the failure of the administrations on either side to reach a peace treaty to officially conclude World War II. The two countries also have bilateral disagreements over a set of Russian-occupied islands on which Japan asserts sovereign rights.
