Russia’s FSB security service has arrested a German citizen accused of serving as a mercenary for the Ukrainian military before deserting his unit, Russian state media reported Wednesday.
The man, who was identified only by his birth year of 1976, is reportedly a former German military veteran with a history of combat deployments in Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria.
The FSB claimed the man also served as a sniper in a Ukrainian territorial defense unit between 2016 and 2018 near the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk.
In a video interrogation published by the state-run TASS news agency, the German national said he had left for Switzerland after completing his contract.
He said he re-entered Ukraine in November 2025 and signed a new three-year contract in December.
“I was promised 100,000 hryvnias ($2,200). However, I didn’t receive the money and was forced to flee the ranks of the armed forces of Ukraine,” the man said.
The Moscow Times could not independently verify whether the confession was made under duress.
Russia’s FSB did not specify when or where his detention took place. It said investigators were preparing to charge him with mercenary activities under Russian law.
The arrest follows a similar incident last Thursday, when the FSB announced the detention of a Swedish national in the northwestern Pskov region on allegations of illegal border crossing and sabotage.
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