Ukrainian Grandmother Detained in Alleged FSB Trap

Kazakh authorities detained Ukrainian citizen Liubov Rozhanska at Astana airport at Russia’s request after she traveled there to collect her grandson, in what her lawyer described as a possible operation organized by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).Rozhanska was detained while passing through border control after arriving from Istanbul to Kazakhstan on Thursday, Oct. 1, her lawyers Alexei Pryanishnikov and Riza Nurbayeva told Deutsche Welle (DW).JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.The Russian request was reportedly transmitted through the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Moscow-led security alliance that includes Kazakhstan.Rozhanska is being held in a detention center in Astana. Her lawyers said a court hearing was expected within three days and warned that she could be sent to Russia despite being a Ukrainian citizen.Neither Kazakhstan’s authorities nor Ukraine’s foreign ministry had publicly commented on the case at the time of publication.Grandmother traveled to collect childAccording to the lawyers’ account, Rozhanska traveled to Kazakhstan to collect her grandson, who was supposed to be brought there from Russia and returned to his father in Odesa.The boy was born in Odesa in 2018 to a Ukrainian family. His parents later separated, and in 2021 his mother moved with him to Russia’s Kaliningrad region, where her new Russian husband lived.After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the mother applied to renounce Ukrainian citizenship for herself and the child, both receiving Russian citizenship in 2022, according to DW. Other Topics of Interest Kremlin Urges US-Russia Deals Before Ukraine Settlement Peskov’s comments follow Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev’s Washington talks on ending the war and potential US-Russia energy projects after the conflict. The child’s father began legal proceedings in Ukraine and in March 2025, Ukraine’s Supreme Court determined that the boy should live in Odesa with his father.Russian case opened before proposed handoverPryanishnikov said that the mother’s new husband, Vitaly Andreyev, and Andreyev’s father contacted Rozhanska in July and proposed handing over the boy to his Ukrainian father and grandmother.Negotiations over the transfer intensified in late August.At the same time, however, Russian authorities were pursuing a criminal case against Rozhanska over the alleged attempted abduction of the child.Nurbayeva said the case had been opened in Russia in 2023, even though Rozhanska had never entered Russian territory and was allegedly unaware of either the investigation or an arrest order.“When she arrived in Kazakhstan, she was detained under a ruling by a Kaliningrad court,” Nurbayeva told DW.Documents sent by Russia reportedly show that investigators from the FSB’s Kaliningrad regional branch were preparing to place Rozhanska on a wanted list and seek her extradition while negotiations over the child’s transfer were continuing.Lawyer alleges FSB provocationPryanishnikov described the arrest as a “rather clearly planned operation” and an FSB provocation, arguing that the invitation to collect the child may have been used to lure Rozhanska to a country where Russia could seek her detention.“Despite the seemingly family nature of this case, I clearly see a political context connected with the war between Russia and Ukraine,” he said.Pryanishnikov’s allegation has not been independently confirmed, and neither the FSB nor the relatives involved in the proposed handover have publicly responded.Kazakhstan has previously transferred people wanted by Moscow to Russia. In February, Kazakh authorities deported IT specialist Oleksandr Kachkurkin, who was detained upon arrival in Russia, and charged with treason over alleged financial transfers to Ukraine. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.