Tokyo police have sent papers to prosecutors on a suspected Russian spy and his collaborator.

According to the police, the Russian man who worked at his country’s trade representation office in Japan and a Japanese man are suspected of illegally obtaining confidential data related to new products of a machine tool-related company where the Japanese man worked.

The two men in their 30s allegedly committed the acts on two occasions in November 2024 and February 2025.

The Japanese man is believed to have received about 700,000 yen, equivalent to about 4,400 dollars, in return for helping the Russian man.

Police have not disclosed whether the Japanese man has admitted to the allegations.

They said the Russian man did not respond to a summons and has returned to his country.

Investigators suspect Russia was attempting to smuggle cutting-edge technology that could be diverted for military use, amid the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian man is believed to have approached the Japanese man by pretending to be a Ukrainian asking for directions.

But he was apparently an operative of Russia’s intelligence agency known by the acronym SVR and was conducting espionage activities.

He had already identified the man as his target and faked a random encounter to eventually get to the confidential information.

The spy spoke fluent Japanese and said things like how he wants to meet again to express his appreciation.

Subsequently, they met at least 10 times at places such as restaurants in the Greater Tokyo area.

As they grew closer, with the Russian man often listening to the Japanese man’s complaints about work, the spy extracted confidential company information orally.

The two men never exchanged contact information, deciding when and where to meet next before parting ways and even setting a backup date in case they could not make it.

Avoiding leaving digital traces was likely a tactic to prevent the espionage activity from being exposed.

Investigators say the chance meeting setup and not exchanging contact information are classic Russian techniques.

Police are warning that machine tool-related companies are of high interest to Russia and could be targeted.

They are advising people involved to verify the identity of foreigners who contact them online or in public and be careful of falling into relationships in which it is difficult to say no.