Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said Tuesday that it had detained a suspected agent of Russia’s military intelligence (GRU) who was preparing explosives caches for planned attacks in four Ukrainian regions.
The SBU said counterintelligence officers had thwarted planned attacks in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Uman and Odesa by arresting the suspect before the devices could be used. According to investigators, the agent was preparing homemade explosive devices intended to be used to blow up vehicles belonging to Ukraine’s defense forces.
The suspect, a 55-year-old former law enforcement officer from the Odesa region, was recruited after posting anti-Ukrainian comments on social media, the SBU said.
After recruitment, he received coordinates to weapons caches containing components for three improvised explosive devices made with plastic explosives and electric detonators, as well as two anti-personnel mines.
Investigators said the man assembled the devices with remote detonation mechanisms and hid them in new locations designated by a Russian handler, typically on the outskirts of the targeted cities and away from residential areas. Other members of the alleged network were expected to retrieve the explosives and attach them to military vehicles, the SBU said.
Counterintelligence officers documented the suspect’s actions, seized and neutralized all explosive devices and related materials, and arrested him during the final phase of the operation. Searches also uncovered additional homemade explosives and components, the agency said.
The suspect has been charged with treason under martial law, preparing a terrorist act, illegal handling of weapons and explosives, and illegal manufacture of explosive devices. He is being held in custody and faces a possible life sentence with confiscation of property.
The operation was carried out by SBU officers in the Chernihiv region under the procedural supervision of the regional prosecutor’s office, the agency said.