Maria Zakharova
© Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Some may be perplexed by the fact that Japan, with 7,000 kilometres separating it from Ukraine, has been acting as if it was a quasi-state within the United States in its relations with Russia over the past several years. What compels a sovereign state to sign all Russophobic lists concocted by the Anglo-Saxons, and join Washington and London in every initiative targeting our country?

The West has a singular way of justifying its accusations. You did this because you have done it before. That's what they say.

But what if we look back?

Everyone knows that the Empire of Japan sided with the Nazi Reich during World War II. The Berlin-Rome-Tokyo axis was not just a name for an alliance that emerged with the signing of the 1940 Berlin Pact, but a genuine brotherhood in blood.
At the time, Japan acted as the cornerstone of the axis of evil in Asia. On the face of it, Tokyo pursued an independent policy and even signed a Neutrality Pact with the Soviet Union. However, historical research and the recently discovered documents demonstrate that not only was Japan preparing for a war against the USSR, but de facto engaged in undeclared hostilities.

Researchers now have materials at their disposal showing that Japan intentionally maintained a considerable military presence in occupied China. The only rationale for this was to force Moscow to send more troops to the Far East to counter Tokyo's eventual surprise attack. According to the available data, the USSR had to deploy up to a quarter of its entire military forces to the border with occupied China, while it needed them so much for fighting the Wehrmacht troops near Moscow and Rzhev.

In fact, there was a reason for keeping the troops in the Far East. Declassified last year, the documents written by Japanese officers demonstrated that Japan was not only ready to go to war against the Soviet people, but to unleash a true bacteriological genocide. At the time, Tokyo was a leading power in military research with its practices, including the blood-chilling experiments carried out by Unit 731, which still shock anyone who learns about them.

Here are the facts proving that Japan de facto waged war against the USSR while formally remaining neutral:
  • Japanese troops made almost 800 incursions into the USSR territory between 1941 and 1945.
  • Japanese aircraft illegally crossed the USSR border more than 400 times.
  • The Japanese sank about 20 Soviet merchant vessels for a total loss of over 600 million roubles.
  • Tokyo closed the Tsugaru Strait and the La Pérouse Strait to Soviet civilian ships.
There's more to it. Newly uncovered evidence proves that not only the entire Japanese intelligence and spy network were working for the Nazis as they fought against the USSR while the Neutrality Pact remained formally in place, but the Wehrmacht and the Kriegsmarine used the Japanese infrastructure including by stationing their marine raiders in the Sea of Japan, as well as the IX-C and IX-D2 submarines at the Kobe, Penang and Surabaya bases. By the way, Tokyo received submarines directly from the Reich, including the RO-500 (German U-511) diesel submarine that has been discovered recently off the coast of Wakasa Bay in Fukui Prefecture's southwest.

Doesn't this remind you anything?

Is this the reason why Tokyo apologised to the Azov nationalist battalion for designating it as an extremist organisation?
You can find more details about how the Empire of Japan assisted the Third Reich in the Historical Materials section (link) on the Foreign Ministry website.