FSB Cell Planning Russian Bomb Attacks in Kyiv, Zhytomyr Thwarted

Ukraine’s Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Ukrainian National Police have dismantled a Russian intelligence network accused of preparing a series of terrorist attacks in Kyiv and Zhytomyr, authorities said.

The operation disrupted what officials described as a coordinated plot by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) to stage bombings in crowded civilian areas in northern Ukraine.

According to investigators, two women working for the FSB were detained while assembling improvised explosive devices.

The suspects included a 24-year-old contract soldier serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and her 25-year-old civilian associate. Both were allegedly part of a wider FSB-controlled agent network.

Ukrainian authorities said the same network had already been linked to an earlier attack: in December 2025, three of its members were arrested after carrying out a bombing in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district.

The two women were reportedly recruited through a Telegram channel advertising “easy money.” After being vetted, they received funding from Russian handlers to rent an apartment in Zhytomyr, where they set up a makeshift bomb-making laboratory under remote instructions from the FSB.

Explosive components were purchased at local shops and markets, with the suspects traveling separately and frequently changing clothes to avoid detection, officials said.

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Once the devices were assembled, the agents were awaiting precise geolocation data from their Russian handlers indicating where the bombs were to be planted.

SBU officers uncovered the operation before any explosives could be employed. The suspects were detained during the construction of their first device.

Searches of the apartment uncovered bomb components and mobile phones containing evidence of communication with Russian intelligence.

Both women have been formally charged with preparing a terrorist attack carried out by a group acting in a premeditated conspiracy.

They are currently being held in pretrial detention and face up to 12 years in prison with possible confiscation of property.

The operation was conducted jointly by the SBU’s Kyiv and Kyiv region directorates, the National Police, and under the procedural supervision of the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office.