By Jane BradleyMichael Schwirtz and Adam Goldman

Jane Bradley, Michael Schwirtz and Adam Goldman have covered Russian intelligence operations for more than a decade. They reported this story from across Japan, Ukraine, and several countries in Europe.

Published July 12, 2026Updated July 13, 2026阅读简体中文版閱讀繁體中文版Leer en español

Soon after troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Western leaders expelled hundreds of Russian spies from their capitals and blacklisted companies with ties to the Kremlin.

The coordinated effort was intended to make it harder for the Kremlin to collect intelligence and buy equipment like microchips, transmitters and the machinery used to make weapons.

Since then, officials say, dozens of those banished spies have turned up in an unexpected place: Japan.

The country’s weak espionage laws and flourishing high-tech industry have made it a crucial piece of the Russian war effort. Ninety percent of Russian missiles and drones contain Japanese components, according to Ukrainian government estimates.

At the heart of the operation in Tokyo is a secretive Russian military intelligence unit known as the 20th Directorate, whose role has never been publicly disclosed. Posing as diplomats or businesspeople, its officers work to buy or steal battlefield technology and smuggle it into Russia, according to current and former officials at five Western intelligence agencies.

The man overseeing the 20th Directorate’s operation in Tokyo maintains a cover identity as an employee of the Russian state airline Aeroflot, according to current officials from four of those intelligence agencies. He plays a crucial role in supplying Russia’s war machine.

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