Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Tuesday that it has arrested a Japanese journalist on Sakhalin Island on suspicion of spying.
The FSB said the man, who worked for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, was suspected of gathering information on Russia’s defence capability for a Japanese intelligence agency. It did not name him. It said he was arrested as he prepared to leave Russia and was flown to Moscow.
A judge at the Lefortovo District Court ordered that he be held in custody for two months while the case is investigated, the FSB said. The agency released video of masked agents detaining him in a hotel room.
The arrest comes amid tension between Moscow and Tokyo after President Vladimir Putin visited Iturup, one of the Kuril Islands, in August. Both countries claim the islands. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the visit “absolutely unacceptable”.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara held a press conference in Tokyo after reports of the detention.
