An Israeli citizen, a former IDF soldier, who intended to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was detained in the Krasnodar Territory. This was reported by the press service of the Federal Security Service (FSB) for the Krasnodar Territory.
“The Federal Security Service of Russia in the Krasnodar Territory detained Israeli citizen Lanzman Yuval, born in 1960, a former IDF soldier who harbored intentions to join the Ukrainian armed forces in order to participate in hostilities against the Russian Federation,” the department said in a statement, as cited by RIA Novosti.
According to the FSB, the foreign citizen has a negative attitude towards the SVO and the policies pursued by the Russian leadership. He contacted various terrorist groups banned in the Russian Federation, sending them his personal and autobiographical data in order to join them and carry out “combat missions against Russia.”
The man was subsequently expelled from the country and was prohibited from re-entering.
“His controlled departure from the country was carried out for further departure to Israel, and entry into the Russian Federation was also closed,” the FSB said in a statement.
He was also given an official warning about the inadmissibility of actions that create conditions for the commission of a crime under Part 2 of Art. 205.5 of the Criminal Code of Russia (“Participation in the activities of a terrorist organization”).
The FSB regularly reports on the detention of individuals acting as agents for Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, or intending to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Also on russian.rt.com they transmitted data about the participants of the SVO: two agents of the Ukrainian special service were detained in Rostov-on-Don
In particular, in January, the department announced the detention in Rostov-on-Don of two Russian citizens who, during communication with a representative of the Ukrainian special services, agreed to collect and transmit information about units of the Russian Armed Forces.
It was noted that both detainees proactively established contact with a representative of the Ukrainian special services. Subsequently, a criminal case was initiated under Art. 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Treason”.
In addition, in November 2023, in Buryatia, FSB officers detained a man who was persuading Russian military personnel to defect to the Ukrainian Armed Forces after arriving in the zone of a special military operation.
According to the intelligence services, the detainee used deliberately false information discrediting the Russian Armed Forces as arguments. He also guaranteed to organize communication between Russian military personnel and his handlers from the Ukrainian special services and the Azov regiment*
Along with this, in March the Russian Ministry of Defense published data on the number and composition of foreign mercenaries taking part in the armed conflict on the side of Ukraine.
According to the Russian defense department, since February 24, 2022, the total number of foreign mercenaries who arrived in Ukraine was 13,387. By the time this information was published, 5,962 foreign fighters had been confirmed killed.
The leaders in the number of mercenaries sent to Ukraine in the Russian Defense Ministry were Poland (arrived - 2960, destroyed - 1497), Georgia (1042 arrived, 561 destroyed) and the United States (arrived - 1113, destroyed - 491).
Based on this publication, 64 mercenaries arrived in Ukraine from Israel, 29 of whom were destroyed at the time the data was made public.
* “Azov” is an organization recognized as terrorist by a decision of the Supreme Court of Russia dated August 2, 2022.