Russia planned an attack on 160 targets in Japan and South Korea in the event of an armed conflict on the eastern borders in 2008-2014, reported the Financial Times citing 29 secret military documents from 2013-2014, provided by the publication's Western sources.
82 targets from the list of potential targets are military — these are the central and regional command headquarters of the Japanese and South Korean armed forces, radar installations, airbases, and naval facilities.
The remaining targets represent civilian infrastructure, including road and rail tunnels in Japan. The list also includes 13 power plants, including the Tokai nuclear power plant complexes and oil refineries.
In South Korea, the main targets were bridges and industrial facilities, including the Pohang steel plant and chemical plants in Busan.
The list of attack targets in Japan and South Korea was meticulously developed and, according to the newspaper's sources, is "still considered relevant."
As noted by FT, the descriptions of the targets are very specific and detailed: for example, records of two bunkers with command posts in South Korea include an assessment of the forces needed to capture them.
The materials obtained by the publication describe a hypothetical scenario of an attack using 12 Kh-101 missiles with a non-nuclear warhead, launched from a Tu-160 bomber. The radar base Okushirito, located on the coast, was chosen as an example of an attack.
One of the presentations talks about the flights of Russian heavy bombers Tu-95 in February 2014, which were supposed to test the readiness of Japan's and South Korea's air defense.
At the same time, the route of Russian military aircraft almost completely coincides with the route of two Tu-142 patrol aircraft that circled Japan during exercises in the Pacific Ocean in September 2024, causing Japanese aviation to scramble fighters.