What gave her away? Russian social worker who posed with grenade launcher in floral dress is captured by Ukraine and accused of being a Moscow spy
- Maria Koleda 'involved in a plot to capture power plant' near Crimea
- Photos show her in a floral dress clutching a grenade launcher
- US claims Russia is paying agents to stir unrest in the east so it can invade
Published: 16:35 GMT, 9 April 2014 | Updated: 21:04 GMT, 9 April 2014
An 23-year-old 'Russian spy' has been detained in Ukraine amid claims Vladimir Putin is seeking to destabilise the country.
Ukrainian authorities say Maria Koleda was on her ninth mission to the ex-Soviet state, wounding three people with firearms and training two armed subversive groups.
The detention comes on the fourth day of a stand-off in two cities, as Ukraine's government warned it was prepared to use force against pro-Russian activists who barricaded themselves inside government buildings and begged Vladimir Putin for back-up.
'Spy': Ukraine has accused 23-year-old Russian social worker Maria Koleda of working for Moscow. Photos have emerged of her holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher in a floral dress and stroking a kitten
Accusations: Koleda has been nicknamed Bagheera after the cunning panther in The Jungle Book
Authorities say Koleda, who was detained in the Kherson region bordering Crimea, was involved in a plot to 'capture sensitive facilities' including a hydropower plant.
Photos of emerged of her in camouflage clothes stroking a kitten and in a floral dress clutching a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
Russia annexed Crimea last month and the U.S. has accused the Kremlin of trying to do the same thing in eastern Ukraine by funding 'provocateurs' to stir unrest so it can invade.
Moscow has been accused before of using young female agents - notably the glamorous Anna Chapman, formerly married to a British man before being unmasked by the FBI in New York - in frontline intelligence operations.
Koleda uses the nickname Bagheera online - thought to be based on the cunning black panther in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.
She used firearms during unrest outside Mykolaiv Regional State Administration in southern Ukraine, in which she admitted 'that she wounded three people', said the SBU (Ukraine's secret service) in a lengthy statement naming Koleda.
Kiev claimed she had orders from Russian intelligence to check places where Russian troops could penetrate from Crimea onto Ukraine's mainland, 'bypassing the checkpoints'.
Russia has been accused before of using glamorous female agents, notably Anna Chapman, pictured
Ukraine's secret service claimed Koleda, pictured, used firearms and wounded three people
Detained: Ukrainian authorities claimed Maria Koleda was on her ninth fact-finding mission to the country
When she was detained she carried 'a traumatic pistol' with live ammunition and 'guidelines for training subversive groups'.
'She said this was her ninth trip to Ukraine,' said an SBU statement which claimed to have evidence of her reporting to her spymaster in Russia about pro-Moscow activists equipped with 'unlimited supplies of explosives'.
The 23-year-old graduated as a social worker from a Moscow university.
'What we see from Russia is an illegal, illegitimate effort to destroy a sovereign state and create a contrived crisis with paid operatives'
- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
Like Katia Zatuliveter, suspected by MI5 of working for Russian intelligence after securing a job with MP Mike Hancock, she had lived in St Petersburg.
Russia's FSB - part of the former Soviet-era KGB - did not comment on Koleda's detention.
Ukraine presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko warned Moscow is deploying tightly-knit agent provocateur groups to control protests which have no popular legitimacy.
'The techniques are absolutely the same,' said the ex-premier. 'Out of 250 people, there are groups of three-to-four FSB representatives, then foremen, who obey them.
'They do not rely on support from the people at all'
The development came as masked pro-Russians who stormed Ukrainian state buildings and declared a new 'People's Republic' called on Vladimir Putin for help.
The U.S. has accused the Russian administration of funding the 'illegal' unrest which is ongoing in the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.
'What we see from Russia is an illegal, illegitimate effort to destroy a sovereign state and create a contrived crisis with paid operatives', U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday.
And Ukraine's government warns it is prepared to use force against the activists, who reinforced barricades using sandbags, razor wire and car bumpers and declared a sovereign 'People's Republic'.
Reinforced: Pro-Russian activists in Donetsk (pictured) and Luhansk have build fresh barricades today as the Ukrainian government warns it is ready to use force to eject them from government-owned buildings
Homemade: The barricades in Donetsk have been strengthened - with a row of car bumpers covered in wire
Armed: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has directly accused Russia of using 'provocateurs' in Ukraine
Anger: The activists stormed government buildings in Donetsk (pictured) and Luhansk on Sunday
Festive cheer: A woman dishes out food to pro-Russian protesters in front of the seized building in Donetsk
East v West: Unrest has flared in eastern Ukraine, whose residents have strong ethnic ties to Russia. Last month Russia annexed Crimea - and now separatists in Moldova say they want to join Russia too
'Of course we must ask Russia to take us in because I don't see an alternative,' said a man who claimed he was the 'commandant' of the seized ex-KGB building in Luhansk.
He shouted: 'Putin help us!'
Last night 56 'hostages' were allowed to leave the building amid claims they had been held against their will and the building had been rigged with explosives. There was later confusion as to whether there had been any hostages at all.
Today, some of the activists were in talks with the Ukrainian authorities on how to dispel the tension.
Serhiy Tyhipko, a figure with the previous Ukraine government, urged authorities not to storm the building in Luhansk but negotiate a peaceful solution instead.
Tyhipko said the protesters wanted to turn Ukraine into a federal state with broad regional autonomy, not join Russia.
'Putin help us!' This pro-Russian activist in Luhansk said his name was Vasily and he was the 'commandant'
Hostilities: In Luhansk it was claimed up to 60 hostages were taken and the building was rigged with explosives. Conflicting reports said the 'hostages' were released and that there had never been any at all
Prepare for battle: Molotov cocktails are lined up next to the barricades in Luhansk. Force could soon be used
'The people are not bringing up the issue of breaking off from Ukraine and are not calling for the help of foreign countries,' Tyhipko said.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the standoffs must be resolved within the next two days.
'I want to repeat that there are two options: political settlement through negotiations and the use of force,' he said. 'We are ready for both options.'
Yesterday 70 activists were arrested in a third city, Kharkiv, after Ukrainian special forces stormed their barricades and cleared the building.
But the move led to a punch-up in the Ukrainian Parliament in Kiev after one politician accused the government of being too 'heavy-handed'.
The views by a communist leader infuriated two nationalists, who marched across the chamber and grabbed him mid-speech prompting several other politicians to trade blows.
Protest: In Kharkiv, 70 activists were arrested and demonstrators gathered near the court today (pictured)
Anger: Pro-Russians hold placards reading 'Freedom for detained heroes' near the court in Kharkiv
School run: Children look on as policemen with riot shields file through the streets in Kharkiv
Court appearance: One of the 70 detained in an 'anti-terrorist' operation is led into the court in Kharkiv
