Newsweek has a rather extraordinary story, if it's true. It seems Putin was determined on starting a war, any war...
"Russia was preparing to attack Japan in the summer of 2021, months before President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an email featuring a letter from a whistleblower at Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), shared with Newsweek, reveals."
The pretext for such an invasion is right from the same little book of lies that they wheeled out for the Ukraine one, including claims that Japan has secret biological warfare centres, along with...
"The whistleblower detailed movements of electronic warfare helicopters targeting Japan, while Russia's propaganda machine was also initiated, with a huge push to label Japanese as "Nazis" and "fascists.""
Russia Planned To Attack Japan in 2021: Leaked FSB Letters (newsweek.com)