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Russia's secret plans to attack Japan revealed · Fresh Intelligence

• 0:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is a news.com newsflash.
• 0:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: A series of leaked communications and military documents have revealed how Russian authorities and security services assess the possibility of an armed conflict with Japan.
• 0:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: The disclosures came from two complementary sources, leaked emails from a federal security service, FSB, whistleblower riding under the codename winds of change in 2022, and Russian military planning files from 2013 to 2014 obtained by the Financial Times.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Russia's leaked intelligence emails provided rare insight into how seriously Moscow once viewed the idea of confrontation with Japan.
• 0:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: In one message sent to Vladimir Ocechka, the anonymous FSB analyst claimed Russia had been quite seriously preparing for a localized military conflict with Japan.
• 0:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: The same email said internal assessments suggested there was confidence that the countries would enter the stage of acute confrontation and even war was high.
• 0:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: According to the whistleblower, the Kremlin later shifted its focus, with leadership eventually sort of swapping out Japan for Ukraine, while leaving the reasoning behind the decision unclear.
• 1:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: The emails also claimed Russia's internal propaganda units had begun preparing narratives portraying Japanese citizens as infascists, mirroring rhetoric later used against Ukraine.
• 1:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union seized four islands north of Hokkaido.
• 1:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Japan continues to claim them as the northern territories, a dispute that has prevented the two countries from signing a formal peace treaty.
• 1:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Russian officials viewed the unresolved territorial dispute as a persistent source of tension and a potential flashpoint.
• 1:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 2011, then President Dmitry Medvedev reinforced Russian military forces on the disputed islands, signaling Moscow's willingness to assert control.
• 1:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Separate from the FSB emails, 29 classified Russian military files dated 2013 to 2014 were obtained by the financial times.
• 1:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: The documents showed Russia had identified 160 priority targets in Japan and South Korea, including civilian infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants, tunnels and transport huts.
• 2:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: The files were used to train Russian officers for potential conflict on the country's eastern flank, particularly in scenarios in which a broader NATO-related war could extend into East Asian.
• 2:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: The materials also indicated Russian strategists fear the coordinated response involving U.S. forces stationed in Japan to pan self-defense forces in South Korean military assets, prompting planners to map critical locations that could be targeted in the event of a large scale confrontation.
• 2:40
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