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.Published On 13 Oct 202613 Oct 2026Russian 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.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3France seizes tanker suspected of belonging to Russia’s shadow fleetlist 2 of 3Trump’s diesel deal opens a new rift with Europe over Ukrainelist 3 of 3‘Block, blunt, break’: What’s in NATO’s new Russia war plan?end of listRussia’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, sai...