(20 Nov 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Berlin, Germany – 20 November 2024
1. German government news conference
2. Journalists attending
3. SOUNDBITE (German) Kathrin Deschauer, German Foreign Ministry spokesperson:
"We are aware of the case and I would like to add that Russian media suggest that the arrest has recently taken place, which is not the case. The arrest took place in October, and the German Consulate in St. Petersburg was informed and is in contact with Russian authorities."
4. Various of journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (German) Kathrin Deschauer, German Foreign Ministry spokesperson:
"We are aware of a low double-digit number of German citizens currently detained in Russia."
6. Various of news conference
STORYLINE:
Germany’s Foreign Ministry responded to Russia’s top domestic security agency on Wednesday saying it had arrested a German national accused of planning to sabotage energy facilities on orders from a Ukrainian national, saying that they were "aware of the case."
Spokesperson Kathrin Deschauer said that the arrest took place in October, and that the German Consulate in St. Petersburg was informed.
She did not give further details, citing privacy rules. Deschauer said the consulate has offered consular support to the detainee and is in contact with Russian authorities.
The Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that it detained German national Nikolai Gayduk as he entered Russia’s westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad from Poland and seized half a liter (one pint) of liquid explosives from his car.
It didn’t say whether Gayduk also had Russian citizenship or a visa to enter the country.
The FSB accused Gayduk, a resident of Hamburg born in 1967, of planning acts of sabotage on orders from a Ukrainian, Alexander Zhorov, who also lives in Hamburg.
The agency said Gayduk was involved in an explosion at a gas distribution station in Kaliningrad in March, and that a criminal case was brought against him on charges of a terrorist attack and smuggling of explosives. A court ordered Gayduk to be placed in pretrial detention pending an investigation, Russian news agency Interfax reported. No other details were provided.
Germany earlier this year played a central role in a major East-West prisoner swap in which Russia released U.S. and German nationals it held in custody and a number of jailed Russian dissidents, while the U.S., Germany and some other European countries freed jailed Russians.
AP video by Pietro De Cristofaro
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