Russia: Japanese consul in Vladivostok arrested, blindfolded and immobilized. Moscow: “He was collecting confidential information”

BEIJING – Detained for a few hours, “blindfolded and immobilized”, accused of espionage and once released declared persona non grata and invited to pack up and leave the country within the next 48 hours. That’s what happened to Tatsunori MotokiJapanese consul a Vladivostok. A story that is further aggravating relations between Russia and Japanat a time when relations between the two countries are already at their lowest terms both due to the war in Ukraine (the Kremlin has already labeled the Rising Sun as a “hostile country” in recent months after Tokyo joined the sanctions) and for the ten-year question of the disputed Kuril Islands.