Japanese journalist arrest in Sakhalin deepens Rus...

Summary

• A Japanese journalist faces spying charges in Russia after agents arrested him on Sakhalin, sinking ties between Moscow and Tokyo further.
• Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, meanwhile, accused Tokyo of using accredited reporters to collect information that could harm Russia.
• Old wounds between Moscow and TokyoThe arrest of the Japanese journalist marks the most prominent detention of a foreign reporter in Russia since 2023.

AI Generated Summary

A Japanese journalist faces spying charges in Russia after agents arrested him on Sakhalin, sinking ties between Moscow and Tokyo further.

Moscow’s foreign ministry named the reporter as Yuki Imai. The Federal Security Service (FSB) said he writes for the Hokkaido Shimbun, a major regional daily published in Sapporo. Hokkaido, home to the paper, lies close to Russia’s Far East.

Agents seized him in the Sakhalin region, in Russia’s far east, just one day before his planned departure, the FSB said. However, it gave no date for the arrest.

FSB accuses Japanese journalist of spying

According to the agency, Imai gathered and kept material about Russian defensive capabilities. It claims he planned to hand this to a Japanese spy agency, for use against Russia.

Imai held press accreditation from the Russian foreign ministry. Even so, Moscow’s Lefortovo court ordered him kept in custody for nearly two months.