Ukraine's Security Service detains Russian agents planning terrorist attack in Kyiv

“The Security Service and the National Police prevented a terrorist attack in Kyiv, which was planned by the Russian military intelligence. As a result of the special operation, two Russian agents were detained who were tasked to prepare an improvised explosive device and detonate it in one of the crowded places in the capital of Ukraine,” the statement said.

According to the SSU counterintelligence, the Russian goal was to maximize the number of civilian casualties in Kyiv to spread panic among citizens.

Russian agents

To commit the terrorist attack, Russian intelligence remotely recruited a 20-year-old resident of Zaporizhzhia who was looking for easy money on Telegram channels. After recruitment, the agent received detailed instructions from the Russians on how to make an explosive device from improvised components.

“Following the enemy's instructions, the offender used two mobile phones to connect a detonator with plastid, which she had to get from a disguised cache. The occupants planned to share its geolocation with the girl on the eve of the terrorist attack,” the SSU said.

She was in contact with a Russian GRU officer who was in the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region.

“The agent involved her 26-year-old partner to cooperate with the aggressor. Before committing the terrorist attack, both suspects had to fulfill a control task of the Russian special service: to set fire to several units of military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Zaporizhzhia region,” the Ukrainian special service added.

Detention of Russian agents

To prevent the crime, SSU counterintelligence officers detained both traitors red-handed when they tried to set fire to an infantry fighting vehicle that was performing tasks on the southern front.

SSU investigators served them suspicion notices under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (high treason committed by a group of persons under martial law).

They are being held in custody without the right to be released on bail. They face life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

Not the first terrorist attack planned by Russia

The SSU has detained a group of Russian GRU agents who were planning a series of terrorist attacks in Kyiv by May 9. They had already planted explosives in construction hypermarkets and cafes.

The improvised explosive devices were disguised in tea packaging. They consisted of a timer, a detonator, and plastic explosives with an incendiary mixture that was supposed to cause large-scale fires.