A Japanese journalist has been detained on suspicion of espionage on Sakhalin, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said. The agency identified him as a Japanese national and a correspondent for the newspaper Hokkaido Shimbun but did not release his name. He was detained in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk shortly before he planned to leave Russia and taken to Moscow.
The FSB released footage of the operation with the detainee’s face blurred. Officers appear to have seized him at a hotel. The footage shows officers forcing him to unlock his devices, and he appears surprised when they accuse him of espionage.
The FSB said the journalist was gathering information about Russian military personnel on instructions from Japanese intelligence. According to the agency, he was collecting data on the number of Kuril Islands residents mobilized for the war in Ukraine and on residents who volunteered to fight.
The detainee is 34-year-old Yuki Imai, according to the case record from Moscow’s Lefortovsky District Court. On October 13, the court ordered him held in custody in an espionage case under Article 276 of Russia’s Criminal Code. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Imai had been visiting Russia since 2014. His most recent visit began in the summer of 2026, according to the news outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti (1, 2). He studied at St. Petersburg State University and posted photographs from his trips around Moscow and St. Petersburg. He said he had “a bit of an interest in Soviet military equipment,” as well as Russian culture — classical music, ballet, and Soviet cinema. The footage of his detention showed a book by Ivan Bunin in his suitcase.
According to Ostorozhno, Novosti, Imai had recently published articles about the State Duma elections and the unveiling of a monument in Khabarovsk commemorating the Soviet Union’s victory over Japan. He also wrote about Russia’s strengthening ties with North Korea.
During his most recent trip, Imai visited Primorsky Krai, with stops in Vladivostok and Nakhodka and a visit to a children’s arts center there. He interviewed Russian-speaking residents of Japan and took an interest in life in the Russian Far East, the Soviet-Japanese War, and friendship between Russia and Japan.
Imai’s most recent article, published on October 5, is a report from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk about the presence of North Korean nationals in the region.
News of Imai’s detention came amid reports that Tokyo had extradited a member of the Russian group Qilin to Germany, according to the news outlet Agentstvo. Japanese authorities detained the 28-year-old Russian national in May on suspicion of involvement in a September 2024 cyberattack on a logistics company in Germany. Qilin is ransomware used by hackers, including those linked to North Korea.
Related reading
The last time a Japanese journalist was detained in Russia on espionage allegations was in 2019. He was accused of trying to obtain classified materials about Russia’s military capabilities in the Far East and was expelled from the country.
Russian authorities use detained foreigners in exchanges for Russians facing prosecution abroad. For example, in 2023, Russia charged Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich with espionage. A court sentenced him to 16 years in a penal colony. Gershkovich was freed in a prisoner exchange with Western countries in 2024.
Relations between Russia and Japan deteriorated after Putin made his first trip to the Kuril Islands in August, visiting Iturup. In response, Japan summoned the Russian ambassador and lodged a “strong protest.”
Further reading
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.