Russia arrests Japanese journalist on espionage suspicions ... Tensions over the Northern Territories and Ukraine reach a peak

[Financial News] Since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia has seen relations with Japan deteriorate rapidly and has arrested a Japanese journalist in eastern Sakhalin on suspicion of espionage.
According to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency on the 13th, the Federal Security Service (FSB), which is responsible for domestic security, has arrested and is questioning a reporter for Japan’s Hokkaido Shimbun who was based in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the capital of Sakhalin Oblast. The reporter was officially registered as a correspondent with Russia’s Foreign Ministry. In a separate statement, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova identified the arrested Japanese journalist as Yuki Imai.
The FSB claimed it had established that Imai had collected and kept information related to Russia’s military capabilities at the direction of Japanese intelligence agencies, with the aim of harming Russia’s security. He was arrested in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk shortly before departing and transferred to Moscow, where he was detained by court order. In a further announcement, the FSB claimed Imai had sought to determine how many residents of the Kuril Islands near Sakhalin had been mobilized for or provided support in the war in Ukraine, and to pass that information to Japanese authorities.
Japan, which has been locked in a dispute with Russia over sovereignty of the Kuril Islands since the end of World War II, became the most active Asian country in supporting Ukraine immediately after Russia invaded in 2022. Last August, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Iturup Island in the Kuril chain in person for the first time since coming to power, prompting a backlash from Japan; Japan calls the islands the “Northern Territories.” On the 2nd, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi decided for the first time since taking office to impose sanctions banning the operation and repair of 35 vessels Russia uses to export oil while evading international sanctions, as well as the provision of insurance to them.
Zakharova condemned Japan’s “regrettable attempt to use a Japanese correspondent based in Russia with the status of a foreign journalist to gather information that threatens our country’s security,” adding, “Today’s incident is not an isolated case.”
“Given that cooperation between the two countries has deteriorated since the start of the ‘special military operation’ (the invasion of Ukraine) because of the Japanese authorities’ anti-Russian stance, and Japan’s unwillingness to heed Russia’s concerns about its efforts to remilitarize in the Far East in ways that encroach on our legitimate security interests, this incident will be an additional factor further darkening the atmosphere in relations between Russia and Japan,” she said.
Russian independent media outlets including Meduza reported that Imai is 34, has visited Russia since 2014, and studied at Saint Petersburg State University. According to Japan’s Kyodo News, an official at the Japanese Embassy in Russia said the embassy was currently confirming the detention of a Japanese national who is a journalist.
[email protected] Jong-won Park Reporter