The suspect was working as part of a group of neo-Nazis operating in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, according to security services
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained a man accused of planning to blow up a railway near the city of Nizhny Novgorod on the instructions of Ukrainian special services.
The 21-year-old, a citizen of Russia and Germany, was arrested during a search for adherents of neo-Nazi ideology in the city, according to the FSB, which said it had uncovered and detained a whole group of young people involved in committing “common crimes.”
During the searches, police found and confiscated a ready-to-use improvised explosive device, as well as correspondence with a representative of the Ukrainian special services, which indicated that the suspect was planning to carry out a terrorist act.
The FSB has also shared a video of the suspect being captured, as well as images of the IED and several excerpts from his text messages with his Ukrainian contact.
In his testimony, the detainee confessed that he had traveled to Russia in 2023 and had since been carrying out various tasks on the orders of a Ukrainian agent, such as setting fire to an electric panel, and painting graffiti. The suspect stated that his last task was to sabotage a section of railway tracks in Nizhny Novgorod using the IED in exchange for a monetary reward.
Investigators have now launched a criminal case for sabotage. Meanwhile, the remaining members of the neo-Nazi group are to be charged with committing crimes of a general nature, the FSB said.
Last month, Russian security services also arrested a Ukrainian-born German national who is suspected of working for Kiev’s special services, smuggling improvised explosive devices into the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad with the goal of sabotaging gas facilities.
In recent months, the FSB has regularly reported thwarting terrorist plots linked to Ukrainian intelligence services. Moscow has argued that, as Kiev has been losing on the battlefield, it has resorted to terrorist tactics against Russian civilians, as well as desperate PR stunts, such as its incursion in Kursk Region.
