A Russian spy at the center of a secret operation to smuggle high-tech weapon components into Russia has left Japan after his activities were disclosed by The New York Times, a senior Ukrainian intelligence official said Thursday.
The operative, Maksim Vladimirovich Filchenkov, 49, had been working undercover in Japan as an employee of Russian state airline Aeroflot. Filchenkov¡¯s role had been the focus of a Times investigation into how Russia exploited Japan¡¯s weak espionage laws.
Filchenkov¡¯s departure was first reported by the Yomiuri Shimbun, a major national newspaper in Japan. The newspaper said the Russian exited Japan after the Times published its investigation July 12. The Ukrainian official who confirmed the spy¡¯s departure did so on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss intelligence publicly.
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