Russia arrests Japanese reporter for alleged espionage

Suspect was arrested on Russia’s far-eastern Sakhalin Island before being transferred to Moscow, says Russia’s FSB.

A view of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) building in Lubyanka Square, Moscow, Russia [File: Maim Shemetov/Reuters]

Russian authorities say they have arrested a Japanese journalist on the far eastern Sakhalin Island, accusing 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 up to 20 years in prison.

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Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs named the journalist as Imai Yuki, who it said worked for Japan’s Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper.

The Japanese government was trying to verify reports of the journalist’s detention, according to an official at Tokyo’s embassy in Moscow cited by Japan’s Kyodo news agency.

The journalist was arrested on Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the main city on Sakhalin Island, as he was preparing to leave Russia, said the FSB. He was then flown to Moscow, where a court ordered him to be held behind bars pending the probe, the agency added.

A video shared by Russia’s TASS news agency, attributed to the FSB, shows masked officers appearing to handcuff the suspect in a hotel room, before transporting him to an interrogation room.

The suspect was then shown boarding a plane accompanied by two FSB servicemen, before appearing in a cage on trial in a Moscow court, which authorised his custody for nearly two months.

The Japanese man’s arrest comes amid a spike in tensions between Russia and Japan following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trip in August to the Kuril Islands , the Moscow-controlled Pacific archipelago that is 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.

Russia and Japan never signed a formal World War II peace treaty, with the main obstacle being the ⁠unresolved territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands.

Authorities in Russia have arrested numerous foreigners for alleged espionage since it invaded neighbouring Ukraine in 2022.

One of the most prominent cases was the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in 2023. He was found guilty of espionage by ‌a ‌Russian court, sentenced to 16 years and then freed in a major prisoner swap involving Russia and Western countries in August 2024.

俄罗斯联邦安全局称，嫌疑人在俄罗斯远东萨哈林岛被捕，随后被移送至莫斯科。

俄罗斯莫斯科卢比扬卡广场的俄罗斯联邦安全局（FSB）大楼一景 [图片：Maim Shemetov/路透社]

俄罗斯当局称，他们在远东萨哈林岛逮捕了一名日本记者，指控他从事间谍活动。

俄罗斯联邦安全局（FSB）周二宣布逮捕了这名男子，称他涉嫌为日本情报部门收集俄罗斯国防能力方面的情报。该男子最高可判处20年监禁。

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俄罗斯外交部公布了这名记者的姓名，称其为今井由纪，并表示她曾为日本《北海道新闻》工作。

据日本共同社援引东京驻莫斯科大使馆一位官员的话报道，日本政府正在核实有关该记者被拘留的报道。

俄罗斯联邦安全局（FSB）称，这名记者在萨哈林岛首府南萨哈林斯克被捕，当时他正准备离开俄罗斯。随后，他被押送至莫斯科，当地法院下令将其羁押，等待调查。

俄罗斯塔斯社分享的一段据称来自俄罗斯联邦安全局（FSB）的视频显示，蒙面警员在酒店房间里给嫌疑人戴上手铐，然后将其带到审讯室。

随后，嫌疑人在两名联邦安全局特工的陪同下登上了一架飞机，之后被关在笼子里在莫斯科一家法院接受审判，法院批准将其拘留近两个月。

这名日本男子被捕之际，正值俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京8月访问千岛群岛（俄罗斯控制的太平洋群岛，俄日两国均声称对其拥有主权）后，俄日两国之间的紧张局势急剧升级。

萨哈林地区包括萨哈林岛和千岛群岛最南端的四个岛屿，日本称之为北方四岛。

俄罗斯和日本从未签署正式的二战和平条约，主要障碍是悬而未决的千岛群岛领土争端。

自2022年俄罗斯入侵邻国乌克兰以来，俄罗斯当局以涉嫌间谍罪逮捕了多名外国人。

其中最引人注目的案例之一是《华尔街日报》记者埃文·格什科维奇于 2023 年被拘留。他被俄罗斯法院判处间谍罪，判处 16 年监禁，然后在 2024 年 8 月俄罗斯与西方国家之间的一次重大换囚行动中获释。