Russia GRU 20th Directorate Runs Covert Tech Theft Operation From Tokyo to Supply Weapons Components

A New York Times investigation, cited by The Japan Times 1, DNYUZ 2, United24 Media 3, and RBC-Ukraine 4, identifies a GRU unit known as the 20th Directorate running a technology-procurement network out of Tokyo, with officers posing as diplomats or businesspeople to acquire and smuggle sanctioned equipment to Russia 13. Western intelligence officials cited in the report name Maksim Vladimirovich Filchenkov, 49, a GRU officer who took up the Tokyo post in February 2024 under cover as an Aeroflot employee, as running the operation from Aeroflot's Tokyo office 24. Ukrainian officials estimate that 90 percent of Russian missiles and drones recovered in Ukraine contain Japanese-made components, and investigators found a Japanese computer module in the wreckage of a Kh-101 cruise missile that killed at least 24 people in Kyiv in May 23. The report describes Tokyo logistics firm Proco Air, whose owner denied knowingly facilitating shipments to sanctioned Russian entities, as routing cargo through Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan for pickup by Aeroflot, and documents obtained by the Times showed a March shipment to Russian pharmaceutical company R-Pharm, whose founder is under Western sanctions 24. Ukraine sent at least eight diplomatic notes to Japan's Foreign Ministry in April 2025 alone detailing recovered Japanese components in Russian weapons, and Japan's Foreign Ministry said it has cooperated with allies on export controls without addressing the specific findings 2.