Russia reporter: This is what is known about the arrested German

The Russian domestic secret service FSB says it has arrested a German citizen in Kaliningrad on charges of terrorism. Russian news agencies reported that it was a man from Hamburg who was born in 1967. When he entered the Russian Baltic Sea exclave from Poland, 50 grams of liquid explosives were seized in his car.

The FSB said the man received the order for an attack from a Ukrainian, also born in 1967, who also lives in Hamburg. The arrested man is also suspected of having carried out an explosive attack on a gas distribution station in the Kaliningrad region in March of this year.

When he re-entered the country, he again intended to damage Russian energy facilities. He was taken into custody on charges of terrorism and smuggling explosives. We are looking for possible participants. However, there was no independent confirmation of these allegations from the Russian secret service.

The Foreign Office in Berlin did not initially comment. They said they were finding out more about the case. Of the German representations in Russia, the Consulate General in St. Petersburg is responsible for the Kaliningrad region.

In the deep conflict between Moscow and the West over the war of aggression against Ukraine, foreigners are repeatedly being arrested in Russia on more or less valid charges. It often seems as if they were intended to serve as a bargaining chip for a possible exchange. During a large prisoner exchange at the beginning of August, a man from Hamburg who had been arrested with hash gummy bears at St. Petersburg airport was also released. However, the accusation of terrorism is much more serious.

The Ukrainian secret services have already carried out several attacks or acts of sabotage in Russia during the war or had them carried out using recruited accomplices.