MOSCOW, October 14, 2026 (DAILYNWZ) — Russia has detained a Japanese journalist on suspicion of espionage, prompting a formal protest from Tokyo and adding to tensions between the two countries over security, the war in Ukraine and a long-running territorial dispute.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry identified the journalist as Yuki Imai, while the Federal Security Service (FSB) said he worked for Hokkaido Shimbun, a regional newspaper serving Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.
The FSB said Imai was detained in Russia’s far eastern Sakhalin region shortly before he was due to leave the country. It accused him of collecting and storing information about Russia’s defence capabilities for intelligence purposes, claiming the material could be used against Russian security.
Hokkaido Shimbun did not confirm the reporter’s identity, saying it was still checking the details and that his safety was its top priority.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on Wednesday that Tokyo had requested information from Russian authorities and called for the journalist to be treated fairly and with humanitarian consideration.
A senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official subsequently summoned Russian Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev to lodge a protest over the detention and Moscow’s unilateral public statements about the case without first providing an explanation to Tokyo, the ministry said.
Kimitake Nakamura, director-general of the ministry’s European Affairs Bureau, also urged the ambassador to arrange a meeting with the detained journalist as soon as possible.
Russian state television broadcast footage showing three masked men in black uniforms handcuffing a man lying on the ground. The footage later showed him escorted onto a plane by two FSB officers and placed in a cage at a Moscow court, which ordered his detention for nearly two months.
The case is the highest-profile detention of a foreign journalist in Russia since the 2023 arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Gershkovich, who said his arrest was a carefully planned FSB sting, was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison before being released in an East-West prisoner exchange in August 2024.
“Territorial Dispute Deepens Strains”
The detention comes amid longstanding friction between Moscow and Tokyo, which have never signed a formal peace treaty ending World War Two because of a dispute over the Kuril Islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories.
Relations deteriorated further after Japan joined Western sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine. Moscow has since designated Japan an “unfriendly” country, although Japan continues to buy Russian liquefied natural gas.
Tensions rose again in August when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited one of the disputed islands, triggering strong criticism in Japan. On Tuesday, a delegation from a Chinese province visited the same island, in a move that appeared to underscore closer coordination between Moscow and Beijing in their criticism of Tokyo.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Japan of ignoring Moscow’s concerns about what she called its “remilitarisation”. She also alleged that Tokyo was using accredited journalists in Russia to collect information that could threaten Russian security.
“What has occurred will become an additional factor clouding the atmosphere of Russian-Japanese relations,” Zakharova said.
Asked whether closer US-Russia ties and Japan’s purchases of Russian LNG could constrain Tokyo’s response, Kihara said Japan had taken firm measures despite difficult relations. Russia remained a neighbouring country, he added, making communication necessary to resolve outstanding issues.