Japan closely monitoring situation with cyberattack accusations against Russia

Japan is closely following developments regarding with West's accusations against Russia of organising cyberattacks on government institutions and international organizations, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Friday.

"By now we have not received any reports saying that (Japanese) government organisations and important infrastructure facilities experienced (external) influence. However, we cannot ignore malicious cyber activity, which has caused damage in many countries undermining the foundations of democracy. Our country is still in close cooperation with the international community and is closely monitoring the situation. At the same time, we want to make efforts to develop a free and secure cyberspace, where individuality (is respected)," Suga said at a press conference.

At the same time, Suga, answering a correspondent's question about cyberattacks and Russia's involvement in them, did not say the word "Russia" even once.

On Thursday, the authorities of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States accused the Russian intelligence services of staging alleged cyberattacks against different international organizations, including the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), anti-doping agencies and sports federations. However, no evidence was given to support these allegations. Dutch Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld, in particular said that four Russian citizens had been expelled from the Netherlands on April 13 on suspicion of an attempted cyberattack on the OPCW, noting that the suspects had diplomatic passports.

Washington, on its part, said that charges were filed against seven alleged Russian military intelligence officers for taking part in what it said was a conspiracy to hack US, Canadian and international organizations.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the anti-Russian "spymania campaign" unleashed in the Netherlands seriously harms bilateral relations with Russia. The ministry added that Moscow has not and will not launch such attacks, as it has no reason to do so.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that the United States is "poisoning" the atmosphere of Russia-US relations with new unfounded accusations against Russia, taking a dangerous path to fuel tensions between the two nuclear powers.