Russia arrests German citizen on sabotage charges

The Russian Federal Security Service said a German man was involved in organizing an explosion in Kaliningrad and had returned to Russia “to organize acts of sabotage.”

A German citizen has been arrested in Russia on Wednesday on charges of sabotage, according to Russian state news agencies.

State media reported that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained a German citizen who had been allegedly involved in an explosion at a gas distribution station in Kaliningrad in March 2024.

The 57-year-old German was also accused of organizing “acts of sabotage on local energy infrastructure,” Russian news agencies cited the FSB statement as saying.

The man, reported to live in Hamburg, was taken into custody at the border to Kaliningrad. A search of his car uncovered half a liter of explosives, according to Russian state media reports.

Russian authorities claimed the man received orders from a Ukrainian man to carry out an unspecified attack, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.