Russia Detains Japanese Accredited Journalist

Russian News Agency, TASS, reported that a correspondent for Japanese newspaper, Hokkaido Shimbun, was detained on suspicion of espionage in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in Russia’s Far East and was taken to Moscow on October 13th. The report indicated that the journalist was collecting information of Russian residents of Kuril Islands, including Japan’s Northern Territory, who voluntarily participated in “the special military operation” in Ukraine. The newspaper officially commented that it was collecting information about the incident. 

TASS reported that the journalist had “collected and stored information about the number of mobilized and volunteer participants in the special military operation among residents of the Kuril Islands,” acting on the instructions of the national intelligence service. Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) initiated a criminal case against the Japanese citizen under Article 276 (espionage) of the Criminal Code.

 

Russian government alleges that Japanese government was behind activities of the journalist, who had been accredited by Russian foreign ministry. “Tokyo’s attempts to use its correspondents with the status of foreign journalists in Russia for collecting information aimed at undermining the security of our state is regrettable,” said the spokeswomen for the foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, in her comment. Zakharova urged Tokyo to reconsider its anti-Russian policy, expressing concerns on Japan’s remilitarization.

 

Russian government was carefully prepared for arresting the journalist. The video footage broadcast by Russian TV showed a scene that masked men raided a hotel room in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and detained the journalist. The journalist was just before leaving Russia. He was transported to Moscow and received a verdict of two months of detention with a charge of spying activities.

 

Japan and Russia have a territorial dispute over the islands located northeast of Hokkaido. While Japan demands return of the island as its inherited territory, Russia has been occupying them since it invaded on the last days of the World War II in 1945. Standing on the same basis with Ukraine, Japan has been accusing Russia of its violation of territorial integrity of Ukraine since the military aggression in 2022.

 

Russia has been raising diplomatic tension over territorial dispute. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited one of Japan’s Northern Territory, Iturup Island, in August, demonstrating Russia’s ownership over the territory. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi commented that she would not tolerate it, stressing that the islands were Japan’s inherited territory in terms of history and international laws.

 

Russia kept on pressuring Takaichi administration. Acknowledging Takaichi’s support for the International Criminal Court, Russia demanded Netherland handover of nine ICC officials including Japanese president, Tomoko Akane. On the same day of arresting Japanese journalist, the government of Sakhalin Oblast invited Chinese delegation to Iturup Island seeking economic deal with China. It is likely that Putin administration is targeting Takaichi who has not established moderate relations with China, or even the United States over sanctions on the ICC.

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