Breaking news and news from Russia’s war in Ukraine on September 27

Russia’s detention of a Japanese diplomat is “unacceptable,” says Japan’s foreign minister Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in New York on September 23. (Photo: David Dee Delgado/Pool/AFP/Getty Images) Russia’s detention of a Japanese consular officer on Monday is “extremely regrettable and unacceptable,” Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said. “The consular officer was taken in a state of immobility, blindfolded from start to finish, with his hands and head restrained, and was subjected to intimidating interrogation,” Hayashi told reporters on Tuesday, adding “there is no absolutely no evidence of illegal activities as claimed by the Russian side.” Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Mori summoned Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin on Tuesday morning, Hayashi said. Mori filed a formal protest, demanding a formal apology and prevention of repetition. The Japanese government will take “appropriate measures,” Hayashi said. A bit of background: Russia’s Federal Security Service said Japanese consul Motoki Tatsunori was detained Monday in Vladivostok for receiving confidential information. According to the state news agency RISA Novosti, the FSB said that the diplomat “was arrested red-handed while he received, in exchange for a monetary reward, information of limited distribution [es decir, confidencial] on current aspects of Russia’s cooperation with one of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, the impact of the Western sanctions policy on the economic situation of Primorsky Krai”. The consul was also declared persona non grata by the Ministry of Russian Foreign Affairs “for activities incompatible with the status of a consular officer and detrimental to Russia’s security interests,” they said in a statement.