The Security Service of Ukraine thwarted yet another attempt by russian occupiers to carry out a terrorist attack in Kyiv. Law enforcement officials detained two female agents of the aggressor country who were planning an assassination attempt on a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is stated in a report by the SSU.
According to the investigation, they planned to blow up a Ukrainian serviceman in his car, which was parked near the pedestrian zone of Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square.
To do this, one of the suspects was to place a homemade explosive device under the car for subsequent remote detonation.
In this way, the enemy hoped not only to eliminate the soldier but also to cause the maximum number of civilian casualties.
“Even before they attempted to plant the explosive, SSU officers detected a GPS tracker installed on the soldier’s car. This allowed them to foil the Russians’ plan in advance and detain both female agents. One was caught red-handed when she came to retrieve the homemade bomb from the hideout; the other was apprehended at her residence, where nearly 6 kg of explosives were found,” the security service reported.
The russian agent. Photo: Security Service
The investigation revealed that the two detainees were acting independently. The enemy recruited them through their acquaintances in russia who collaborate with russian intelligence officers.
One of the agents—an unemployed resident of the Sumy Region—came to Kyiv lured by the promise of “easy money,” checked into a hotel, and assembled a homemade explosive device (HED) following video instructions from a handler in russia.
The woman hid the finished bomb in a cache at one of the capital’s cemeteries. To maintain her cover on the way to the cemetery, she “disguised” herself as an elderly woman wearing a headscarf and carrying flowers.
Another agent was tasked with retrieving the IED from the hiding place and attaching it, along with a GPS tracker, to a military vehicle. This agent turned out to be a former owner of a pastry shop in Sevastopol who had been recruited by the enemy. When her business failed, russian intelligence officers offered to get her out of debt in exchange for her cooperation.
Following instructions from the russians, the woman traveled to Kyiv, where she initially spied on the Ukrainian soldier to determine his whereabouts and travel routes in preparation for a terrorist attack.
During searches of her residence, investigators seized a wig that she had planned to wear while planting an explosive device in the soldier’s car.
Investigators from the Security Service informed both detainees of the charges against them under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Part 2 of Article 111 (treason committed under martial law);
- Part 5 of Article 27, Part 1 of Article 258 (aiding and abetting a terrorist act);
- Part 1 of Article 14, Part 1 of Article 28, and Part 1 of Article 258 (preparation to commit a terrorist act by a group of persons acting in concert);
- Part 1 of Article 263 (unlawful acquisition of an explosive device);
- Part 1 of Article 263-1 (illegal manufacture of an explosive device).
The suspects are being held in custody without the right to bail. They face life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the SSU previously identified a prison guard who collaborated with the occupiers and tortured Ukrainian prisoners at the Luhansk penal colony.
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