A Japanese reporter’s assignment in Russia has turned into an espionage case. Russian state media says Yuki Imai of the Hokkaido Shimbun was working at the direction of Japan’s intelligence service to collect information on people tied to a “special military operation” on the disputed Kuril Islands, reports the BBC. Per the Moscow Times, Imai also gathered data on Russian defense capabilities in Ukraine, including the number of Russian individuals taking part in military action there.
Imai was detained in the Sakhalin region just before a planned departure, transported to Moscow, and ordered held in pretrial custody
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