Russia Detains Japanese Journalist Imai Yuki on Suspicion of Spying

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Tuesday that it had detained a Japanese journalist, identified as Imai Yuki, a correspondent for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, on suspicion of espionage. According to the FSB, Imai was detained in the far eastern Sakhalin region one day before he planned to leave Russia. The FSB statement did not specify the exact date of the detention. The journalist is accused of collecting intelligence on Russian defence capabilities. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed the journalist's identity, using the Russian transliteration of his name, and stated that the detention had cast a new pall on relations with Tokyo. Moscow's foreign ministry expressed regret that Tokyo was using correspondents to carry out spying. The incident adds further strain to already tense relations between Russia and Japan.