Russia targets Japanese consulate staff in summer, reporter suspected of spying after hostile treatment - detained for two weeks on 27th

The 27th marks two weeks since Russian authorities announced that they had detained a Hokkaido Shimbun reporter on suspicion of espionage. This summer, in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the far eastern region where the reporter was stationed, unconfirmed reports were circulating that records of ``espionage activities in Russia'' had been leaked from the computer of a former Japanese consulate general employee. There is also a suspicion that the story was fabricated by the authorities, and the recent detention of journalists appears to be an extension of hostility towards Japan.

Japanese journalist detention appears to be protracted; negotiations with Russia show no signs of progress

In July, regime-affiliated media claimed on social media, ``Hackers stole (former museum staff's) computer data.It is being sold on the dark web (highly anonymous Internet space).'' ``It has become clear that Japanese intelligence agencies are monitoring Russian nationals.''

Earlier in the same month, an employee of the Tokyo branch of Russian airline giant Aeroflot, who was named as an "intelligence officer" in a US newspaper report, left Japan. The aim of ``retaliation'' is clearly visible in the communications of the regime-affiliated media.

Although regime-affiliated media asserted that ``modern-day ninjas were collecting all kinds of information,'' the ``leaked data'' shown in images as evidence consisted mainly of communications between ordinary people in 2017 through communication apps. The materials cannot be said to be useful to Japan, and there is a possibility that Russian authorities translated domestic surveillance records into Japanese and leaked them under the guise of "information activities" by former museum staff.

Although the former embassy staff had already returned to Japan, an ``anti-Japanese demonstration'' was held in front of the consulate. President Putin subsequently visited the Northern Territories for the first time in August, and on the 13th of this month, Russian authorities unilaterally released a video showing a Japanese journalist being detained and transferred to Moscow. He is trying his best to give the impression that he is a "spy."