Russia arrests Japanese journalist on allegations of spying

FSB security agency said reporter was arrested on island of Sakhalin, alleging he was collecting information about Russia’s defences

Russia has arrested a Japanese journalist on the far east island of Sakhalin and accused him of espionage, Moscow said on Tuesday.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova identified the reporter as Yuki Imai from the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, saying Imai was accredited with the ministry but was accused of “conducting espionage activities on Russian territory”.

Russia’s FSB security agency said a Japanese national, who it did not name, was arrested on Sakhalin and alleged he had worked for Japanese intelligence to collect information about Russia’s defences.

Moscow and Tokyo have been locked in a territorial dispute for decades over the status of a string of islands in the Pacific Ocean, off the north-east coast of Japan and to the south-west of Russia’s Sakhalin region.

The FSB said it had “opened a criminal case against the Japanese national”, and that he had been placed in pre-trial detention, Russian news agencies reported, citing the agency.

“Attempts by Tokyo to use its correspondents in Russia … to gather information aimed at undermining the security of our state is regrettable,” Zakharova said, alleging this was “not an isolated case”.

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, visited one of the disputed islands in August, causing an ​uproar in Japan. Tokyo has ‌said it would continue ​implementing sanctions against ​Russia and supporting Ukraine.