Russia Detains Japanese Journalist on Espionage Suspicion

Russia's Federal Security Service detained a correspondent for Japan's Hokkaido Shimbun in the Sakhalin region shortly before his planned departure from the country, then transferred him to Moscow. He had worked at the newspaper's bureau in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Authorities opened a criminal case under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code, covering espionage. The FSB alleges the correspondent collected and stored information related to Russia's defense capabilities at the direction of a foreign intelligence service for use against Russia's security. The Lefortovo District Court in Moscow ordered him held in pretrial custody. His identity has not been disclosed. Per an RMF24 account, he was accredited by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Center-rated reports led with Japan's government verifying the reported detention and with TASS accounts of an arrest on spying charges on Sakhalin Island. UA.news placed the case against a backdrop in which President Putin visited Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Iturup on August 12 and, in September, blamed Tokyo for the deterioration of Russia-Japan relations.