"Serves you right, Russians!": what is known about the young woman detained after the explosion in occupied Sevastopol

The claim that she worked for Ukrainian intelligence services is, at present, the version put forward by the Russian FSB

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13 Aug 2026

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The Russian FSB announced the detention on 13 August 2026 of a Russian citizen Margarita Reut, whom Russian security forces suspect of involvement in an explosion in temporarily occupied Sevastopol, which killed a servicemember of the Russian army. According to the FSB, the woman allegedly acted on the orders of Ukrainian special services, however there are currently no independent confirmations of this claim. Ukrainian state authorities have not publicly confirmed involvement in the incident.

The explosion occurred in the area of Stolyetovsky Prospect in occupied Sevastopol. Russian sources report that an explosive device may have been hidden near a bench, and the serviceman died from the wounds sustained. The FSB has not officially named the deceased. At the same time, Russian Telegram channels claim that he may have been a captain of the 1st rank, but this information has not been officially confirmed.

A traitor to Ukraine was eliminated; the explosion went off as two men were passing near a rubbish bin — it was in that bin that the explosive was planted, Ukrainian media report.

Preliminarily, Robert Shageyev was eliminated — the commander of the submarine «Запоріжжя» (Zaporizhzhia), who in 2014 betrayed Ukraine and defected to the occupiers.

Under his command, the Black Sea Fleet submarine launched “Kalibr” missiles at Ukrainian cities.

The FSB said only that the detainee is a Russian citizen born in 1994. The name Margarita Reut was later published by Russian Telegram channels and media. They also circulated a video allegedly of her interrogation and claims that she was paid in cryptocurrency for carrying out the task. It is impossible to independently verify the circumstances of how these testimonies appeared and under what conditions they were obtained.

According to the Russian Telegram channel Mash, Margarita Reut was born in Yaroslavl, lived for some time in Sochi and regularly traveled to temporarily occupied Crimea. It is also reported that she did volunteer work, in particular taking part in cleaning up mazut (fuel oil) in the Krasnodar Krai.

The woman traveled a lot. Russian media claim that abroad she most often visited Egypt and Turkey. In 2023 Margarita Reut opened her own travel agency, but the business lasted about 1.5 months. Another Russian source also reports that she worked as an advertising manager.

Russian media also paid particular attention to the administrative case against Margarita Reut. According to Mash, at the end of July 2025 she was fined under the Russian article on the so-called “discrediting” of the Russian armed forces.

According to the version set out in the Russian case materials, while on the train “Samara – Adler”, the woman reacted to reports about a drone attack on Likhaya station in the Rostov region.

“That’s what you deserve, Russians!”.

It was this phrase, Mash claims, that the Russian authorities used as the basis for bringing her to administrative responsibility for “discrediting” the army.

Russian media also claim that after the explosion on 13 August 2026 Margarita Reut was allegedly preparing to leave the country and had a ticket from Sochi. These details currently come mainly from the Mash Telegram channel and messages associated with Russian security structures and are not independently confirmed.

At this time it is reliably known only that the Russian FSB directorate in temporarily occupied Crimea and Sevastopol officially reported the detention of a Russian citizen born in 1994 after an explosion that killed a Russian serviceman. The claims that the detainee worked for Ukrainian special services are the version of the Russian FSB.

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