Russia Announces Detention of Swedish Citizen Who Fought for Ukraine
Russia’s Federal Security Service has announced that it has detained a Swedish citizen in the Pskov region of Russia.
Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported the news, citing Russia’s state news agency TASS.
According to SVT, the man is 35 years old and is from the Stockholm area.
Russian security forces detained the man in the Sebezhsky District of Russia’s Pskov region. Russia’s Federal Security Service claims that he crossed into Russia from a neighboring country.
According to the Russian security service, the man allegedly served in Ukraine’s 24th Assault Battalion from February to June 2026, where he commanded a unit responsible for unmanned aerial systems.
Russia’s Federal Security Service also claims that the Swedish man planned to join the Russian military under the guise of a new recruit to perform sabotage at military facilities. These allegations have not been independently verified.
The man’s relatives confirmed to Swedish broadcaster SVT that he had fought for Ukraine and had spent some time in the country.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that Sweden’s embassy in Moscow would look into reports that a Swedish citizen had been detained in Russia.
“So far, these are just media reports. We will find out what is happening through our embassy in Moscow,” Kristersson told SVT during a European Union summit in Brussels.
Sweden’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the broadcaster that it was aware of the media reports but had not opened a consular case regarding the matter.
Militarnyi previously reported that Russia’s Federal Security Service had detained a Japanese journalist from the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper in Russia’s Sakhalin region.
The charges against him carry a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years.
