Ukrainian assassin arrested after killing Russian submarine commander who defected to Putin

A 32-year-old woman has been arrested in Sevastopol on suspicion of planting an explosive device that killed a former submarine officer who had fled Ukraine to Russia. According to reports, Margarita Raut allegedly planted the bomb near a bench where the naval commander was killed during the ongoing conflict between the two countries. The arrest represents a significant security incident within Russian-controlled Crimea, where the Sevastopol naval base is a strategically important military installation. The victim was reportedly a senior submarine officer who had defected from the Ukrainian navy to the Russian side. Raut is believed to have received payment in cryptocurrency for carrying out the assassination and reportedly showed no remorse during police interrogation. The incident highlights the dangerous underground war being waged between Ukrainian intelligence services and Russian military personnel in occupied territories, with targeted killings of high-profile defectors becoming an established part of the conflict’s shadow operations.

Source: Maariv — Original article in Hebrew.