NYT reveals how Russia gets Japanese technology into its weapons: a secret GRU unit, an Aeroflot cover job, and a cargo route through Sri Lanka

Russian weapons keep turning up with Japanese-made components inside.

The manufacturers maintain that they export no sensitive technology to Russia.

But there is no shortage of middlemen willing to move the parts to third countries, from which they find their way into Russia.

The New York Times spoke with current and former officials at five Western intelligence agencies and found that a classified unit, the GRU’s 20th Directorate, is responsible for acquiring such technology in Japan — and that the operation is run by a career officer, Maksim Filchenkov, working undercover as an employee of Aeroflot’s Tokyo office.

Meduza recaps the key findings from the report.