Dozens of Expelled Russian Spies Operating from Japan: Report

New York, July 12 (Jiji Press)–Of hundreds of Russian spies expelled from Western countries shortly after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, dozens are now operating from Japan, The New York Times reported Sunday, citing Western intelligence and government officials. The coordinated expulsions were intended to disrupt Moscow’s intelligence operations and impede its procurement of critical items, including microchips, transmitters and machinery used in weapons production, according to the newspaper. The report said that Japan’s “weak espionage laws and flourishing high-tech industry have made it a crucial piece of the Russian war effort.” It also said that 90 pct of Russian missiles and drones contain Japanese components, citing Ukrainian government estimates. According to current and former officials of five Western intelligence agencies, the operations in Tokyo is centered on “a secretive Russian military intelligence unit known as the 20th Directorate,” whose role has not previously been disclosed publicly. Posing as diplomats and businesspeople, its operatives procure or steal technology for battlefield use and smuggle it into Russia, the officials said. The newspaper also cited current officials from four of those intelligence agencies as saying the man overseeing the clandestine unit’s operations in Tokyo “maintains a cover identity as an employee of the Russian state airline Aeroflot.” According to them, he plays “a crucial role” in supplying Russia with war materiel. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]