TOKYO (TR) – Russian authorities have detained a Japanese reporter working for the Hokkaido Shimbun on suspicion of espionage, state media reported on Tuesday, reports Nippon News Network (Oct. 14).
According to the state-run TASS news agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest of the male journalist, who was stationed at the newspaper’s Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk bureau in the far eastern Sakhalin region.
The FSB alleges that the reporter was gathering intelligence regarding soldiers mobilized from the Northern Territories and the Kuril Islands for Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.
Russian authorities claim the man was collecting and storing information related to the nation’s defense capabilities. The FSB accused the journalist of acting under the instructions of Japanese intelligence agencies with the explicit intent to threaten Russian national security.
The reporter was reportedly apprehended just moments before he was scheduled to depart the country. Following his arrest, he was transferred to Moscow, where a court has ordered him to be remanded in custody for two months.
In response to the allegations, a representative for the Hokkaido Shimbun told NNN that the publication is “currently confirming the details” of the incident.