Japanese journalist arrested in Russia on suspicion of spying

A Japanese journalist has been arrested in Russia and accused of gathering information on its defence capabilities, news agencies report.

The reporter, who worked for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper but has not been named, was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in the far eastern Sakhalin region as he was preparing to leave Russia, Interfax reports.

The FSB said he was flown to Moscow and put behind bars.

It released a video showing three masked agents arresting the journalist, kneeling over his body, before taking him onboard a plane.

A voice behind the scenes claims he is suspected of spying.

He was then seen in a cage on trial in a Moscow court, during which a judge ordered him to be held in custody for two months.

The FSB said it "thwarted the illegal activity" of the journalist.

"As a result of intelligence operations, it was established that he gathered and stored information related to the country's defence capabilities in order to pass it on for national intelligence purposes to be used ‌against the security of the Russian Federation," a statement said.

Russia considers Japan an "unfriendly" country given it has joined Western sanctions against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

The two countries never signed a formal peace treaty to mark the end of World War Two and are still embroiled in a territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands, ​known in Japan ​as the Northern ⁠Territories.

Russia's Sakhalin region includes the four southernmost Kuril islands.

Russian president Vladimir Putin went to one of the northernmost islands, Iturup, in August.

Japan's prime minister Sanae Takaichi called the visit "incompatible with the Japanese position on the Northern Territories" and "absolutely unacceptable".

Moscow then summoned the Japanese ambassador to protest the "anti-Russia" statements, saying that "Russia's sovereignty and jurisdiction over the southern Kuril Islands are absolutely unshakable".

In recent years, Russia has bolstered its military presence on the Kurils in apparent defiance of diplomatic efforts to negotiate a settlement.

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It has also arrested various foreigners - mainly Americans - on a range of criminal charges and then released them in prisoner swaps with the US and other Western countries.

In August 2024, Moscow freed journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, fellow American Paul Whelan, and Russian dissidents in a multinational prisoner swap which saw two dozen people go free.

(c) Sky News 2026: Japanese journalist arrested in Russia on suspicion of spying