A Swedish soldier who fought on Ukraine's side was detained in Russia

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the detention of a Swedish citizen in the Pskov region. According to Russian security officials, the foreign national illegally crossed the state border. The FSB claims that he allegedly attempted to enter Russia under the guise of enlisting in its armed forces in order to carry out sabotage and terrorist attacks on military facilities.

According to the Russian intelligence agency, from February to June 2026, the man served on a contract basis in an organization recognized as terrorist in Russia. He allegedly held the position of commander of a drone unit in the 24th Separate Assault Battalion.

A video of the interrogation released by the FSB revealed that the detainee’s name is Freddie Michael Stahlkranz Lindholm, and he is 35 years old. Speaking in English, he said that he had signed a contract with the Ukrainian “Aidar” regiment, which is banned in Russia. According to him, he subsequently trained to operate FPV drones for reconnaissance and targeting, and also trained other military personnel.

Stalkranz claimed that he was sent to Russia because they allegedly wanted to force him to carry out sabotage and terrorist attacks there. At the same time, on the eve of the hearing to determine his pretrial detention status, the Pskov City Court reported that the man had crossed the Russian border from Belarus on foot, outside of official checkpoints, for personal, non-political reasons.

This is according to reports from Russian propaganda media.

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