FSB says it detained a Swedish citizen in Russia, accuses him of fighting for Ukraine and plotting sabotage

Russia’s Federal Security Service says it detained a Swedish citizen in the Pskov region, alleging he fought on the side of Ukraine’s armed forces in the Russia–Ukraine war.

The FSB said in a statement that he had traveled to Russia “under the guise of joining the Russian Armed Forces” to carry out sabotage at military facilities.

The FSB said the Swedish citizen served from February to June 2026 as commander of an unmanned aerial systems squad in the 24th Separate Assault Battalion, an organization Russia has designated as a terrorist organization. “There are documents confirming his participation in combat operations against our country as part of Ukraine’s armed forces,” the agency said.

The FSB has not disclosed his name. Russian authorities have opened a criminal case against him for illegally crossing the Russian border, and the FSB plans to open a second case charging him with organizing the activities of a terrorist organization and mercenarism.

On October 13, the FSB said it had detained Yuki Imai, a Japanese citizen and correspondent for the newspaper Hokkaido Shimbun, in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on espionage charges. The agency claimed the journalist, acting on assignment from Japanese intelligence, had been gathering data on how many Kuril Islands residents had been mobilized or volunteered to fight in the war in Ukraine.