Tokyo said Wednesday it had urged Moscow to ensure “fair and impartial treatment” of a Japanese journalist who was arrested by Russia on suspicion of espionage. Russia has arrested several citizens of what it calls “unfriendly” countries in recent years, accusing them of working for Western intelligence services. Russia’s foreign ministry identified the reporter Tuesday as Yuki Imai from the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, with a spokeswoman saying he was accused of “conducting espionage activities on Russian territory”.
Moscow’s FSB security service said a Japanese national was arrested on the Far East island of Sakhalin, but did not name the individual. It said the person had worked for Japanese intelligence to collect information about Russia’s defences. Tokyo said it was seeking details about the arrest, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara saying Japan has not been able to contact the individual and did not know about the arrest until the official announcement.”The Japanese embassy … in Moscow and the Consulate General in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk lodged a request with the Russian authorities for the prompt provision of information, as well as for humanitarian consideration and fair and impartial treatment,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said.
Local media reported that Japan’s foreign ministry will summon Russian ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev to lodge a protest. The ministry did not confirm the reports when contacted by AFP. TV Asahi reported the ministry will seek the reporter’s early release, while Kyodo News said Tokyo will also urge Moscow to provide information about the case and ensure the journalist is treated fairly. The Hokkaido Shimbun said in a statement that it was aware of the announcement by Russian authorities but was “still confirming the details”.”Ensuring the safety of the journalist is our top priority, and we are responding accordingly,” it said. – Territorial dispute – The FSB said it had “opened a criminal case against the Japanese national”, and that he had been placed in pre-trial detention, TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies reported, citing the agency.
Russian media reported he would remain in custody until December 12.”Attempts by Tokyo to use its correspondents in Russia… to gather information aimed at undermining the security of our state is regrettable,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, adding this was “not an isolated case”. The FSB published a video showing masked officers storming a hotel room, pushing a man to the floor and handcuffing him.
He was flown to Moscow, where a court ordered he be held in pre-trial detention. It did not say when the arrest or court hearing occurred. The charges carry up to 20 years in prison. In 2023, US journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on espionage charges, later sentenced to 16 years in prison before being released in a 2024 prisoner swap. 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 northeast coast of Japan and to the southwest of Russia’s Sakhalin region.
The Kuril Islands — called the “Northern Territories” in Japan — have been under Russia’s control since the end of World War II, when they were seized by the Soviet Union. On Wednesday, Japan protested a visit by a Chinese delegation to one of the Northern Territories islands controlled by Moscow and claimed by Tokyo, calling it “absolutely unacceptable.”burs-aph/nf/hmn
Wed, 14 Oct 2026 06:16:51 GMT