A senior Russian naval officer was killed in a blast in Sevastopol on August 13, which Moscow has blamed on Ukrainian intelligence.
The bomb, hidden inside a rubbish bin, contained explosives equivalent to around 500g of TNT. The blast killed Robert Shageev, deputy commander of a Russian Black Sea Fleet submarine brigade, on the spot.
Margarita Reutt, a 32-year-old woman from Sochi, a resort city on the opposite side of the Black Sea, was detained within hours by Russian investigators.
According to investigators, a search of Reutt's belongings uncovered a remote control that they believe was used to trigger the bomb.
Who Is Margarita Reutt?
Reutt was born Margarita Yakovleva and grew up in Yaroslavl, north-east of Moscow. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she was largely raised by her grandmother.
Friends who knew her as a child described her as sociable and warm, but unusually fearless, according to a report by the Guardian.
"Margarita was fearless. She would climb trees, jump off cars, do things most boys were scared of," recalled one childhood friend.
After moving to Novosibirsk to study management, Reutt joined a parachuting club and regularly jumped from Soviet-era aircraft. Photographs from that period show her often surrounded by men in camouflage, and she was frequently the only woman in the group.
She also competed in amateur go-karting and took up water polo, eventually becoming goalkeeper for her university team.
"Margarita was so talented and never afraid of the ball," her former coach told the Guardian.
Away from sport, she volunteered with a patriotic organisation searching for the remains of Soviet soldiers killed during the Second World War.
A New Life In Sochi
After university, Reutt moved to Sochi, where she tried running a travel agency before joining Vitauct, an alternative medicine company focused on longevity.
However, over time, friends noticed that she was becoming increasingly concerned about environmental issues in Sochi.
Her activism became particularly visible after two Russian tankers were wrecked during a storm in the Black Sea in December 2024, causing a major oil spill.
Reutt travelled to Anapa and joined volunteers cleaning mazut, a heavy fuel oil, from beaches contaminated by the spill.
War Changed Her Outlook
People close to Reutt said Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine marked a turning point.
"The war came as a shock," one friend said, recalling how Reutt became vocal about the conflict.
"I told her once to keep quiet, otherwise she would get us both into trouble," the friend told the publication.
In July 2025, Reutt was fined under Russia's law against "discrediting" the armed forces after reportedly shouting "Serves you right, Russians!" when she heard about a Ukrainian drone strike on a railway station in the Rostov region while travelling on a Samara-Adler train.
In February, she posted the results of a genetic test showing that she was 98% Russian. Alongside it, she used a hashtag saying she was "ashamed to be Russian".
Friends Noticed A Change
Her friends said that months before the Sevastopol bombing, she had become more withdrawn. One friend recalled that Reutt had suddenly bought a second phone.
"She bought this second phone in the spring. She explained that she needed it for work, but it didn't really make sense to me at the time."
"Margarita was hiding something," the friend added. "I thought maybe she had a new boyfriend."
Around that time, Reutt began travelling more frequently to Crimea.
She told one acquaintance that she was scouting locations for video shoots, having recently begun appearing more often in music clips.
Russia Alleges Ukrainian Intelligence Link
According to Russian security officials, Reutt confessed to the attack and said a handler connected to Ukrainian intelligence had recruited her.
Investigators claim she was promised a large cryptocurrency payment, along with documents that would help her leave Russia after the operation.
Russia has accused Ukraine of directing the assassination.
Kyiv has not commented on the bombing or on Reutt's alleged involvement.
"Rita believed that the country was going in the wrong direction," a long-time friend said, using the diminutive form of her name. "But I am still shocked she went so far," the friend added.
A Growing Pattern Of Attacks Inside Russia
The alleged Sevastopol operation fits into a broader pattern of attacks on senior Russian military figures since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian intelligence agencies have been linked to a series of assassinations and attempted killings targeting Russian military officers whom Kyiv accuses of involvement in the war.
