Photo: SSU press service
SSU CI prevented new terrorist attacks by Russian special services in Vinnytsia. As a result of the special operation, the security forces detained three agents of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russia who were preparing explosions in the city.
According to the SSU, the offenders planned to blow up the vehicle of a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the administrative building of a district police station.
The first target was to be the car of a Ukrainian soldier. To activate the improvised explosive device (IED), the Russian handlers provided for a call to a mobile phone embedded in the explosive. This was to allow the car and its owner to be remotely detonated.
The SSU officers exposed the agent network in advance and detained the criminals when they were setting up a hidden video camera near the site of the future explosion.
Who was in the group
The detainees were two residents of the Kyiv region who did not have a permanent job. The occupiers recruited them through pro-Russian Telegram channels with offers of “easy money”.
After arriving in Vinnytsia, the women rented an apartment with money from the Russian special services, and then received information about the cache of explosives and took two IEDs.
The third member of the group was a 33-year-old resident of Vinnytsia. On the instructions of his Russian handlers, he manufactured improvised explosive devices, disguising them in thermoses and stuffing them with screws to enhance the destructive effect.
If the car bombing was successful, the agent group was to carry out a second terrorist attack near the local police building.
What has been removed and what are the consequences
During the searches, SSU officers seized two IEDs and mobile phones with evidence of the detainees’ contacts with Russian handlers.
All three detainees were served a notice of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – high treason committed under martial law.
They are currently in custody. The maximum sanction of the article provides for life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The operation was carried out by the SBU in Vinnytsia region under the procedural supervision of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
