Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has rejected the espionage allegations made by Russia following the detention of a Japanese journalist, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
“There are no such facts“, Takaichi told reporters in response to a question about the Russian allegations. She stressed that protecting Japanese citizens is a priority in the current situation. "The protection of Japanese citizens is extremely important at the moment, and we intend to focus our efforts on this goal," the prime minister added.
On Tuesday, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had detained a journalist from the Japanese newspaper "Hokkaido Shimbun" in the far eastern Sakhalin region. The arrest came a day before he was due to leave Russia, but the service did not give the exact date of the detention, Reuters reported.
According to the FSB, the journalist had been collecting and storing information about Russia's defense capabilities for intelligence purposes. The Russian service said the data collected could be used against the country's security.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova identified the detainee as Yuki Imai. She said the arrest further worsened relations between Moscow and Tokyo.