Russian authorities say they have arrested a Japanese journalist on Sakhalin Island and accuse him of espionage. The Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest on Tuesday, saying the man was believed to have gathered information on Russia’s defence capabilities for Japanese intelligence. The charges carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry identified the journalist as Imai Yuki, whom it said worked for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper in Japan. The Japanese government was attempting to verify reports of his detention, an official at Tokyo’s embassy in Moscow said.
Arrest details and court custody in Moscow
The FSB said the journalist was detained in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the main city on the island, as he prepared to leave Russia. He was then flown to Moscow, where a court ordered him held pending the investigation, the agency added.
A video attributed to the FSB shows masked officers apparently handcuffing a suspect in a hotel room before taking him to an interrogation room. Further footage shows him boarding a plane escorted by two FSB servicemen and standing in a cage at a Moscow court, which authorised his custody for nearly two months.
Tensions over the disputed Kuril Islands
The arrest comes amid rising tensions between Russia and Japan after President Vladimir Putin’s trip in August to the Kuril Islands, a Pacific archipelago controlled by Moscow and claimed by both countries. The Sakhalin region includes Sakhalin Island and the four southernmost islands of the Kuril chain, which Japan calls the Northern Territories.
The two countries never signed a formal peace treaty to end World War II, and the unresolved territorial dispute over the Kurils has been the main obstacle.
Espionage arrests of foreigners in Russia
Russian authorities have arrested numerous foreigners for alleged espionage since Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine in 2022. One of the most prominent cases was that of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, detained in 2023. A Russian court found him guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years, but he was freed in a major prisoner swap involving Russia and Western countries in August 2024.
