He wanted to pass himself off as a local. The Ukrainian security service said on Monday that it had arrested a Russian soldier in Kherson (south) “disguised as a civilian”, while fears that soldiers from Moscow are still present incognito in the city liberated on Friday are strong.
“Security service agents detained a Russian serviceman in liberated Kherson. The man was disguised as a civilian and tried to pass himself off as a local “Said this structure (SBU) in a press release, a few hours after the surprise visit of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The 20 year old soldier
According to the SBU, “he admitted that he was a professional soldier” of the Russian forces, in charge of “gathering intelligence (…) and carrying out (sabotage) operations”.
In a video accompanying the press release on social networks, this Russian soldier, blindfolded, declines his identity, saying he is “Nikolai Andreyevich Krivocheev, born in 2002 in the Altai region”, in southern Russia, and operating for a unit based “in Birobidjan” in the Russian Far East.
The announcement comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was planning a surprise visit to Kherson, to celebrate his return to the Russian army after weeks of fighting. The Kremlin for its part continued to affirm that the Ukrainian city, officially annexed in September along with the region of the same name, belonged to Russia although its troops had to abandon it.