MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian investigators said on Friday a dual Russian-Italian national had been detained for planting bombs on railway tracks as part of a sabotage campaign orchestrated by Ukrainian military intelligence.
After his arrest, the man, born in 1988 and a resident of Ryazan, confessed to planting home-made bombs that derailed a freight train in central Russia on Nov. 11, according to investigators. He was not named.
“During questioning, the detainee confessed and said that in February 2023 he was recruited by an employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine,” the Investigative Committee said.
The Committee said the detained man admitted undergoing “sabotage training in Latvia with the direct participation of the Latvian special services.”
Reuters was unable to immediately verify any of the details other than that a freight train was derailed on Nov. 11 near the town of Rybnoe, about 177 km (110 miles) south-east of Moscow. Ukrainian military intelligence could not be reached for immediate comment.
(Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Jamie Freed)