Ukrainian YouTuber arrested in Japan over Fukushima live stream

TOKYO – A Ukrainian YouTuber with more than 6.5 million subscribers has been arrested in Japan after live-streaming himself trespassing in a house in the Fukushima nuclear exclusion zone, the police and media said on Sept 26.

The arrest, which reportedly occurred in an area declared a no-go zone after the 2011 nuclear disaster, is the latest in a string of incidents involving fame-seeking foreigners behaving badly in Japan.

Two other Ukrainians were also arrested for entering the unoccupied house in Okuma town in Fukushima prefecture on the morning of Sept 24, Fukushima police told AFP.

“Police officers discovered the suspects following information provided by a citizen and arrested them in the act,” the official said.

All three suspects admitted to the charges, TV Asahi reported, citing the police.

The broadcaster showed a clip taken from the YouTube live stream, where the three men made tea inside the home and examined objects apparently left behind by residents.

After the Fukushima disaster, which was triggered by a huge earthquake and subsequent tsunami, 12 per cent of the prefecture was off-limits and around 165,000 people fled their homes either under evacuation orders or voluntarily.

The radiation that blanketed the region forced people to abandon everything.

Although many areas have since been declared safe, some are still deemed dangerous, including the location where the Ukrainians were filming, Asahi said.

Former Ukrainian ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky said on social media platform X that he wanted to apologise for the incident on behalf of the Ukrainians arrested.

“This should not be happening,” he said.

The case comes after Japanese police arrested a US live streamer known as Johnny Somali in 2023 for allegedly trespassing at a construction site.

According to video footage, the live streamer, whose real name is Ismael Ramsey Khalid, wore a face mask and repeatedly shouted “Fukushima” at construction workers who urged him to leave the site, the police said, referring to the stricken nuclear power plant.

Another clip shows the 23-year-old, who describes himself as a former child soldier, harassing train passengers with references to the US atomic bombings of Japan in 1945.

An unprecedented number of tourists are flocking to Japan, but some residents have become fed up with unruly behaviour.

The “Japanese first” Sanseito party, which has tapped into growing concerns over over-tourism and immigration, made strong gains in an Upper House election in 2025. AFP