Russia detains Japanese journalist on suspicion of spying

MOSCOW — The Federal Security Service of Russia detained a Japanese journalist who was accused of collecting information about Russia's defense capabilities, according to news agencies on Tuesday. The journalist, who worked for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, was apprehended in the far eastern Sakhalin region while he was preparing to leave Russia. He was later transferred to custody in Moscow, as reported by Interfax.

Russian state television depicted a man lying on the floor, handcuffed by three masked individuals dressed in black uniforms. A voice in the background informed him that he was suspected of spying. The television also showed him boarding a plane, accompanied by two FSB officers, and later being placed in a cage during a trial in a Moscow court, where his custody was authorized for nearly two months.

Russia views Japan as an unfriendly nation, as it has aligned itself with Western sanctions against Moscow in response to the conflict in Ukraine. Japan's embassy in Moscow did not respond to phone calls made outside of business hours. Russia and Japan have never signed a formal peace treaty at the end of World War Two; the primary obstacle to such an agreement is the unresolved territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands, which are known as the Northern Territories in Japan.