A Ukrainian powerlifting champion has been arrested by Russian security services on charges of being a hired assassin and saboteur.
Yulia Lemeshchenko was detained at her apartment in Voronezh, western Russia, by the FSB during a special operation, local media reports.
According to the FSB, the 41-year-old had a Russian passport, which had been given to her by Ukrainian intelligence services so she could be deployed behind enemy lines and take out senior military officers and industrial facilities.
Lemeshchenko was a 2021 Ukrainian winner in the Classic Powerlifting Championship, securing three gold medals.
Appearing in a video released by the FSB, she is seen saying: “In 2023, I was recruited by the Ukrainian security services.
“I was trained in Kyiv and acquired skills in handling small arms, operating drones, evading surveillance and making explosive devices.
“In 2024, I arrived in Russia and, on the instructions of Ukrainian special services, was [ordered] to commit a terrorist act against a high-ranking serviceman from the Russian Defence Ministry.”
She added that she had been given the alias ‘Luffy.’
Although Lemeshchenko’s arrest, along with three other women in occupied Crimea and in Rostov-on-Don, took place in January, it is unclear why the FSB has only now decided to release the information.
All four women remain in pre-trial detention.
