Detention and charges

The Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, that it had detained Yuki Imai, a male reporter for the Hokkaido Shimbun, on suspicion of espionage. He was taken into custody in Sakhalin in Russia's Far East as he was preparing to leave the country. The FSB says he gathered and stored information on mobilized soldiers and volunteer fighters sent to the front in Ukraine from the Kuril Islands and four Russian-controlled islands that Japan claims, acting at the direction of a Japanese intelligence agency.

The FSB released video of the arrest, showing investigators handcuffing him in what appeared to be the hotel room where he was staying while his belongings were searched. The newspaper's bureau in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk also appears to have been searched. A conviction for espionage could bring a prison term of up to 20 years. A Moscow court ordered him held for two months, and pretrial detention has been set until at least 12 December. He was moved from Sakhalin to Moscow.

Tokyo and Moscow trade positions

Japan's Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, to protest the arrest. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi raised the case before a parliamentary committee the same day, calling for prompt information and humane, fair and impartial treatment for the reporter. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference that the government learned of the detention through a Russian announcement and that Japanese officials had not yet been able to reach the reporter. Formal protests have already been lodged with Russia's Foreign Ministry and with local Russian representatives.

Kihara described relations between the two countries as difficult and acknowledged many problems, but said Russia is a neighbour and that keeping communication open is essential to resolving the case. Japan would take every possible measure to protect its nationals, Motegi said. Moscow's Foreign Ministry, for its part, said it regretted that Japan had used a correspondent to collect information meant to weaken Russian security, and called on Tokyo to abandon what it described as hostile steps.

Hokkaido Shimbun's position

The newspaper said in a statement that it knew of the information released by Russian authorities but was still checking the details. It said the reporter's safety came first.

Ensuring the safety of the journalist is our highest priority and we are acting accordingly.

The paper has bureaus in Moscow and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Two earlier cases involving foreign reporters in Russia are on record. A Kyodo News correspondent was held in Vladivostok in December 2019 on suspicion of seeking military secrets, then released about five hours later and out of the country the next day. In 2023 an American Wall Street Journal correspondent was detained for espionage and sentenced to 16 years, before a 2024 prisoner exchange freed him.

Where the case stands

At the time of the Wednesday briefings, Japanese officials had not yet made contact with the detained reporter. Tokyo's embassy in Moscow and its consulate general in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk have asked Russian authorities for information, and the pretrial detention order runs until at least 12 December.