Russia arrests German-Ukrainian over suspected gas sabotage plot
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has arrested a Ukrainian-born German national it alleges was recruited by Kiev’s special services to smuggle improvised explosive devices into Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad and sabotage gas facilities.
The suspect, identified as Nikolay Gaiduk, 58, had been on the Russian agency’s radar since the explosion of a homemade bomb at a small gas distribution station in Kaliningrad in March 2024. When he attempted to cross from Poland into Russia again last month, authorities stopped his German-registered car and arrested him.
Inside the vehicle, authorities found a bottle containing an explosive liquid, according to a video released by the FSB on Wednesday. Gaiduk initially denied everything but eventually revealed the identity of his handler and their methods.
“I was contacted by a man I served with in the army, Aleksander Zhorov. He works for one of the Ukrainian special services and is engaged in subversive activities against Russia,” Gaiduk told investigators during questioning.
At first, Gaiduk was tasked with smuggling explosive substances and fuses, disguised as car wash and marker pens, into Kaliningrad, which he successfully did in December 2023. In March 2024, Zhorov asked Gaiduk to travel to Kaliningrad again – this time to pick up a bomb from a secret hiding place and blow up a gas pipeline.
“He asked if I was ready to do my part, to help end the war… On March 22, when it got dark, I found a hidden cache with a bomb, planted it, and activated it near the gas pipe,” the suspect admitted.
In October 2024, Gaiduk was asked to surveil another gas pumping station near Bolshoe Isakovo in Kaliningrad ahead of another bombing, at which point he was arrested. Russian authorities have launched a criminal case for attempted terrorism and smuggling explosives and are working to identify other potential accomplices.
Gaiduk was born in Ukraine and had lived in Germany since 1992. He once took a selfie with then-mayor of Hamburg and now Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Zhorov is a citizen of Ukraine with a residence permit in Germany who also lives in Hamburg, according to the FSB.
The FSB reportedly thwarts plots linked to Ukrainian intelligence services regularly, according to public updates. Earlier this week, the agency arrested a man in Russia’s Kaluga Region suspected of producing homemade bombs for Ukrainian intelligence assets. Last week, it claimed to have apprehended two would-be arsonists hired by Kiev for acts of sabotage.
According to Moscow, Kiev is losing on the battlefield and has increasingly resorted to terrorist tactics against Russian civilians and desperate PR stunts, such as its incursion into the Kursk Region.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova argued in September that Ukraine's Western backers have either been ignorant of or willingly turned a blind eye to the potential consequences of their continued support for Kiev.
“For the first time in history, Europe itself has given birth to an international terrorist cell,” the spokeswoman said, warning that “this terrorist monster will operate all over the world” and will strike Western Europe because “they always return to those who created them.”
