Concern that foreign spies can operate with impunity in Japan has deepened following a media report that dozens of Russian agents ordered to leave Western European countries have entered Tokyo and are buying components for Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Moscow’s agents were taking advantage of Tokyo’s failure to enact a law specifically designed to combat espionage and the large number of companies manufacturing components critical to the Kremlin’s war machine.
The coveted parts include microchips, transmitters and the cutting-edge machinery required to make advanced weapons systems.
The report identified Maksim Vladimirovich Filchenkov, ostensibly an employee of Russian airline Aeroflot, as leading the operation in Japan.
James Brown, a professor of international relations specialising in Russian affairs at Temple University’s Tokyo campus, told This Week in Asia that what stood out in the report was how the alleged spy was unmasked, suggesting it could have been a tip-off from a foreign intelligence agency.
“There have been no direct flights to Russia for the last four years, so what was he doing here?” said Brown, author of the 2025 book Cracking the Crab: Russian espionage against Japan, from Peter the Great to Richard Sorge.