Russia expected to attack Japan in 2021
According to the publication, this became known from known letters that were sent by an agent with the nickname “Wind of Change” to Vladimir Osechkin, a Russian human rights activist who runs the anti-corruption website Gulagu.net. In classified documents, an informant from the FSB of the Russian Federation probably shared that Russia in August 2021 “prepared quite seriously for a specific military conflict” with Japan.
“The confidence that the countries would enter the stage of acute confrontation and even war was high.
According to the Wind of Change, the pro-Kremlin propagandists were supposed to “stir up” the Russians’ hatred of the Japanese, using the same terminology about “Nazis” and “fascists” that finally sounded about the Ukrainians. A quick step in this propaganda campaign was to be the declassification by the FSB of information that during World War II, Japanese intelligence agencies tortured Soviet citizens by conducting “terrifying biological experiments” on Soviet prisoners of war. In addition, it was claimed that Japan had been preparing for war with the USSR since 1938, a special version was noted.
The Wind of Change also named its alleged helicopters, which it said were supposed to be waiting for the signal to attack Japan.
“On the whole, war is inevitable for Russia because of her maniacal desire on the part of her death,” the letter says.
Newsweek analysts recalled that Russia and Japan never sign a peace treaty formally ending World War II due to disputes over a group of islands claimed by Japan, but they are still occupied by Russia. These are the islands of Kunasiri, Iturup, Shikotan and Khabomai from the Kuril Islands. Tokyo considers the islands to be its “northern territories” and this issue concerns relations between Russia and Japan.
“For here – the cornerstone of Japan of its modern geopolitics: its status as a country that lost in World War II, still the Japanese have government agencies, foreign intelligence and a number of developments of its post-war status,” the informant wrote.
The letter did not explain why Moscow changed its mind and unleashed a full-scale war against. However, the report was verified by experts from the Bellingcat investigation team. Thus, Hristo Grozev noted that he showed the letter to “two facts to contacts in the FSB” who “did not doubt that his colleague had written.”