Russian security officials have detained a self-styled revolutionary accused of collecting intelligence on military transport and infrastructure for Ukrainian special services, the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced Friday.
The suspect, a 50-year-old man identified as a member of Artpodgotovka, an opposition movement outlawed in Russia in 2017, was said to have acted as an intermediary between his group and Ukrainian handlers.
According to the FSB, the individual posed as an employee of a logistics company to gain access to military transport. He reportedly gathered information about shipping routes, identifying markings and other operational details, as well as vulnerabilities at military facilities.
The suspect was detained in Novgorod Region but his alleged activities extended across seven Russian regions, the security service stated.
He has been charged with participation in a terrorist organization. Artpodgotovka, designated a terrorist group by Russia in 2021 after previously being classified as extremist, was founded by Vyacheslav Maltsev, a former Saratov regional lawmaker.
Maltsev established Artpodgotovka in 2013 while active in regional politics. Initially presented as an art club, the group evolved into an opposition movement and gained followers through repeated claims that a popular revolution would break out in November 2017.
Footage obtained by investigators showed the suspect’s Artpodgotovka membership card identifying him as “a member of the revolution.”
Maltsev fled Russia in 2017 and later received asylum in France. He has since appeared regularly on Ukrainian television, offering political commentary and predicting Russia’s imminent collapse.
The FSB also claims that Maltsev is linked to French intelligence and is shielded from Russian efforts to extradite and prosecute him.