Russia planned an attack on Japan in 2021
As the publication notes, this became known from an e-mail sent by an agent under the nickname “Wind of Change” to Volodymyr Osechkin, a Russian human rights activist who runs the anti-corruption website Gulagu.net. The documents marked “secret”, shared by an informant from the FSB of the Russian Federation, state that in August 2021, Russia was “quite seriously preparing for a local military conflict” with Japan.
“Confidence that the country is entering the stage of acute confrontation and even war was high. Why was Ukraine chosen for the war in the end (the scenario has not changed much), according to others,” the informant said.
According to “Wind of Change”, pro-Kremlin propagandists were supposed to “heat up” Russians’ hatred of the Japanese, using the same terminology about “Nazis” and “fascists” that was eventually used against Ukrainians. The first step in this propaganda campaign was the declassification of FSB information that during World War II, Japanese special services tortured citizens of the USSR and conducted “terrible biological experiments” on Soviet prisoners of war. In addition, it was claimed that Japan had been preparing for war with the USSR since 1938, allegedly carrying out sabotage.
“Wind of Change” also named the exact positions of Russian helicopters, which, according to him, should have been waiting for a signal to attack Japan.
“In both situations, this is simply madness. But in general, war was inevitable for Russia due to the maniacal desire of its leadership,” the letter says.
Newsweek analysts reported that Russia and Japan never signed a peace treaty, formally ending World War II, due to reports of groups of islands claimed by Japan but relatively still occupied by Russia, which. These are the islands of Kunasiri, Iturup, Shikotan and Khabomai from the Kuril Islands. Tokyo considers the islands its “northern territories,” and the issue has strained relations between Russia and Japan for decades.
“For Japan, here is the cornerstone of its modern geopolitics: its status as a losing country in World War II still allows the Japanese to have an official military force, a foreign intelligence service, and a number of other things. For Japan, the return of the Kuril Islands effectively meant a revision or cancellation altogether her post-war status,” the informant wrote.
The letter does not explain why Moscow changed its mind and decided instead to launch a full-scale war against Ukraine. The protest post was verified by experts from the Bellingcat investigative team. Yes, Hristo Grozev later showed the letter to “two actual contacts in the FSB”, who “had no doubts that it was written by a colleague”.