FSB detained man in Sevastopol over online comments about Balaklava Thermal Power Plant
In temporarily occupied Sevastopol, Russian security forces stated they had detained a local resident over comments posted on Telegram, pro-Russian media outlets on the Crimean peninsula reported.
Balaklava Thermal Power Plant. Photo from open sourcesThe detainee is a 57-year-old man.
According to Russian security forces, he posted messages calling for a strike on the Balaklava Thermal Power Plant. He was detained by officers of Russia’s FSB Border Service in occupied Crimea.
Russian occupation authorities have opened a criminal case under an article covering public calls for terrorist activity. The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to seven years in prison.
The man’s identity and his response to the allegations are unknown. There has been no independent confirmation of the information released by the Russian security services.
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Earlier, ZMINA reported in Ukrainian that in Simferopol, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, which is temporarily occupied by Russian forces, security officers detained a man on accusations of publicly calling for “terrorist activity” and “extremism”.
Human rights groups have repeatedly pointed out that in occupied territories, the Russian occupation authorities use accusations of “extremism”, “terrorism” and “discrediting the army” to persecute people for pro-Ukrainian views and comments posted on social media. For example, a man was recently detained in the occupied city of Berdiansk on similar charges for comments posted online.
In April 2026, it emerged that a pensioner from Crimea had been sentenced to six years in a penal colony over comments posted online.
The United Nations believes that Russia has created an atmosphere of fear in the occupied territories of Ukraine following its assessment of the situation. In occupied Crimea, the Russian authorities reportedly regard around 7,000 people as “unreliable” and have opened at least 1,729 cases over dissent since 2022.
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