The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has announced the arrest of four individuals connected to a Russian intelligence network involved in planning a terrorist attack targeting a military facility in the Kyiv region. One of the detainees, a minor, was intended to transport explosives into the facility disguised as a soldier.
The plot, which could have resulted in a deadly attack, was foiled by the SBU’s counterintelligence team.
The SBU reported that a special operation led to the capture of four members of the Russian agent network, who were preparing to detonate explosives at the entrance of a building housing one of Ukraine’s Defense Forces units.
According to the investigation, the attackers had planned to use a teenage agent, who was to carry an improvised explosive device (IED) in a tactical backpack, to enter the building disguised in a Ukrainian military uniform.
The attackers had been tracking the teenager’s movements online and intended to detonate the bomb once he entered the building. However, the minor, who was unaware of the planned detonation, believed the bomb would explode after he left the facility. The SBU’s intelligence operations successfully prevented the attack, detaining the minor and three other agents involved in the plot.
The investigation revealed that the terrorist attack was part of a broader Russian effort to destabilize Ukraine and create internal strife within the Defense Forces. By staging the explosion, the Russian special services aimed to make it appear as though one military faction was attacking another in protest. The plot was carefully orchestrated, with each agent playing a separate role but following the orders of a Russian handler.
One of the agents, a 16-year-old student from Kirovohrad region, was given coordinates to retrieve explosives and military uniforms from a hidden cache. A 19-year-old man helped transport the explosives to the location where the teenager would collect them.
Two individuals from the Vinnytsia region had set up the initial cache, where the explosive device was created using instructions provided by a Russian agent.
During the operation, the SBU seized mobile phones containing evidence of the agents’ communications with Russian handlers. Additionally, 1.5 kilograms of explosive material were confiscated from one of the agents.
The detained individuals have been charged under two articles of the Ukrainian Criminal Code: treason during martial law and illegal handling of weapons and explosives.
The four detainees are being held without bail, and if convicted, they face life imprisonment and the confiscation of their property.
