Russia arrests Japanese reporter for alleged espionage

Russian authorities say they have arrested a Japanese journalist on the far eastern Sakhalin Island, accusing him of espionage. The Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest on Tuesday, saying the man was believed to have gathered information on Russia’s defence capabilities for Japanese intelligence. The charges carry up to 20 years in prison. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs named the journalist as Imai Yuki, who it said worked for Japan’s Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper. The Japanese government was trying to verify reports of the journalist’s detention, according to an official at Tokyo’s embassy in Moscow cited by Japan’s Kyodo news agency.