Vladivostok is the easternmost major city in Russia, sitting near the borders of China and North Korea, and across from Japan by way of the Sea of Japan. Russia and Japan have had their disputes with each other over the centuries, and concerns are emerging again with talk of a Japanese remilitarization. It is of interest as such to note how Russian authorities in Vladivostok have detained a Japanese citizen attempting to obtain classified materials:
Japanese diplomats were protested in connection with the actions of a Japanese citizen, who was detained in December while trying to get materials about Russian military potential. This was reported on Monday by TASS in the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“Japanese diplomats accredited in Russia have been lodged with a protest about the inadmissibility of these actions. An adviser-envoy of the Japanese Embassy in Moscow has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, who was handed a note of protest in connection with the unlawful actions of the Japanese citizen,” the diplomatic service said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation informed that a Japanese citizen was detained by Russian law enforcement officers in Vladivostok on December 25, 2019 while trying to obtain classified materials about Russian military potential in the Far East.
“The Russian side announced to the detained red-handed Japanese citizen an official warning about the inadmissibility of actions that create the conditions for committing a crime under Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. He was given 72 hours to leave the territory of the Russian Federation,” the diplomatic department noted. (source)