Russia Arrests Japanese Reporter for Espionage as Spat Grows

Russian authorities said they’d detained a Japanese journalist on suspicion of espionage, with a court ruling that he be held in custody for two months, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement on website.

Russian authorities said they’d detained a Japanese journalist on suspicion of espionage, with a court ruling that he be held in custody for two months, the Federal Security Service said in a statement on website. 

Moscow’s Lefortovo court said the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper’s Yuki Imai should be held until Dec. 12, the Interfax news service reported Tuesday.

The FSB said the reporter, who was accredited with Russia’s Foreign Ministry, had collected and stored information related to Russia’s defensive capabilities. It was then to be transferred to a Japanese intelligence agency and for use “against the security of the Russian Federation.” 

The journalist was picked up in the far eastern Sakhalin region a day before he was due to leave Russia, authorities said. Hokkaido Shimbun, one of Japan’s major regional newspapers, is based in Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido, which lies close to Russia’s Far East. There was no immediate reaction from Tokyo. 

“The incident will become an additional factor clouding the atmosphere in Russia-Japan relations,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a statement on the website. “We once again urge official Tokyo to reconsider and change its approach by abandoning hostile steps toward Russia”.

The arrest comes amid increasing tensions between two nations. Last week the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office had requested that Dutch authorities extradite International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane and eight other officials. The Japanese government called these actions “unfair and unacceptable.” Akane is on Russia’s wanted list, along with other ICC officials, over the court’s 2023 arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on allegations of war crimes in Ukraine.

Russia said on Oct. 5 that Japan’s latest sanctions were further damaging already strained ties, after Tokyo imposed restrictions on 33 Russian entities, nine individuals and, for the first time, the shipping sector.

In August Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi issued a protest after Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first visit to a territory disputed with Japan, underscoring tensions between the countries. Putin’s visit to Iturup Island, known in Japan as Etorofu, came after Japan had repeatedly urged him not to go, Takaichi said.

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