Russian authorities have arrested a Japanese journalist from the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper on the far-eastern island of Sakhalin. The Federal Security Service (FSB) accused the reporter of espionage, alleging he was collecting information about Russia’s defensive capabilities for Japanese intelligence.
The journalist was detained the day before he planned to leave Russia. Russian state television broadcast footage of the man lying on a floor, handcuffed by three masked men in black uniforms. Following his arrest on Sakhalin, the suspect was transferred to Moscow.
A court has ruled that the reporter be held in custody for two months. The FSB noted that the journalist had been reporting on military recruitment in the far east. Russia currently regards Japan as an unfriendly country for joining western sanctions over its war in Ukraine and has arrested several citizens of other unfriendly countries in recent years, accusing them of working for western intelligence services.