An explosion in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol on Thursday killed a Russian service member, according to Russian state-run news agencies RIA Novosti and Tass. Law enforcement officials detained a Russian woman, born in 1994, in connection with the incident.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) stated that the woman was acting under the direction of Ukraine's intelligence services, Tass reported. Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev confirmed the explosion and the arrest, describing the incident as a "cynical crime against an officer" and stating the woman "shows no remorse for her actions."
Sevastopol, located on the southwestern tip of Crimea, is the largest city on the peninsula and has historically served as the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the city has been a frequent target of Ukrainian long-range attacks. In 2023, the Black Sea Fleet's headquarters building in Sevastopol sustained significant damage from a Ukrainian cruise missile strike.