Russia's Federal Security Service accused the woman, found with a bomb in her backpack, of participating in a plot hatched by Ukraine.
Published April 20, 2026
Russian authorities say they have foiled a Ukrainian-linked bomb plot against security services and arrested a German woman found with an improvised bomb in her backpack.
Russia's FSB security agency said the unidentified woman was detained on Monday in the southern city of Pyatigorsk.
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In a statement cited by the Russian state news agency TASS, the FSB said it had “prevented a terrorist attack planned by the kyiv regime against a police facility in the Stavropol region, involving a German citizen born in 1969.”
He said the woman had been recruited by a citizen of a Central Asian country, who was working under orders from Ukraine. That man was found and arrested near the target location.
According to the FSB, the device contained an explosive charge equivalent to 1.5 kg (3 lb) of TNT and was intended to be detonated remotely. The agency said the explosion was ultimately prevented thanks to electronic interference.
Video of the alleged arrest published by Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti showed armed Russian security officers approaching the woman while she was face down in a parking lot.
Another video showed masked plainclothes officers dragging a man into a station, followed by a controlled explosion of the backpack.
Russia's Previous Accusations
Russia has arrested dozens of people over the four years of war, mostly its own citizens, on accusations of working for Ukraine to carry out sabotage attacks.
Russia has previously accused Ukraine of working with Islamic fundamentalists to carry out attacks inside Russia, without providing evidence.
Initially, officials alleged that the perpetrators of a 2024 massacre at a concert hall outside Moscow that killed 150 people were members of ISIL (ISIS) in coordination with Ukraine.
ISIL claimed responsibility for that attack, without making any reference to Ukraine's involvement, for which Moscow provided no evidence and which kyiv denies.
