Russia: FSB Arrested German Citizen as Suspect of Sabotage in Kaliningrad · Global Voices

A German citizen, charged with sabotage in energy infrastructure in , was arrested in the district of Kaliningrad (northwest Russia), announced the Russian Security Service ( ), as the Russian news agencies broadcast. Nikolai Gajduk, a German citizen born in 1967, “is involved in the explosion that occurred in March 2024 at a gas station” in Kaliningrad, FSB said in an announcement. The same announcement states that Gajduk returned to Russia, coming from Poland, “to organise sabotage actions in local energy infrastructure”. Resident Hamburg, arrested on entering Russia, at a border inspection post in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave at the EU gates, according to the same source. The Russian FSB reported Wednesday that it had arrived a German citizen in Kaliningrad, Russia’s exclusive on the Baltic Sea coast, for his alleged investment in a sabotage attack in March. — Meduza in English (@meduza_en) Half a litre of explosive in liquid form was seized during the control of his vehicle at the Russian border, according to the FSB. According to local media, this explosive was hidden inside a shampoo box. “It was found that Mr. Gajduk had received the order to cause an explosion, as well as the components of an improvised explosive device by a Ukrainian citizen”, Alexandre Zorov, who is also a resident of Hamburg, is mentioned in the announcement. In November 2023, the saboteur had already crossed the border, when he made a cache with… — Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) An investigation into “attack” and “smuggling explosives” opened against Gayduk, who was put in temporary detention, is added. Cases of “sabotage”, “treason” or “terror” have been multiplied in Russia since the beginning of the attack launched against Ukraine by Russian troops in February 2022. In recent years, Westerners, mostly Americans, have also been arrested in Russia on serious charges. Washington denounces the arrests of hostages to achieve the liberation of Russians detained abroad. On August 1, the West and Russia proceeded to the largest exchange of prisoners since the end of the Cold War, including American journalist Evan Gershkovic and former Marine Paul Willan, who were released from Moscow.