The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced the successful neutralization of an agent group of the Russian FSB, which planned to set fire to shopping centers, gas stations, markets and pharmacies in the European Union. The suspects were detained in various regions of Ukraine, in particular in Ivano-Frankivsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava regions and Zaporizhzhia.
Details of the SBU operation
The main targets of sabotage were objects in Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic countries. During complex measures in Prykarpattia, the organizer of the enemy cell and his accomplice were detained. According to the SBU, the perpetrators acted as part of a criminal group whose activities were remotely coordinated by staff members of the Russian special service.
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, one of the suspects, a resident of Ivano-Frankivsk, contacted an unidentified Russian and agreed to find people to commit crimes for money. This interlocutor sent a list of objects that should have been set on fire by the Ukrainians. In total, the group included 19 people.
The agency group recruited candidates for arson of civilian objects, using personal connections in criminal circles. In order to send the recruited arsonists abroad, the accused prepared forged documents, including passports, driver's licenses, educational diplomas and medical cards issued for third parties.
FSB plans
After committing arson, the perpetrators were supposed to film the burning of objects on their own phone cameras and transfer them to the FSB. The aggressor planned to use the video to prepare special information operations aimed at destabilizing the social and political situation in the European Union.
During 37 searches of the suspects' homes, cars and garages, they seized mobile phones, flash drives, drafts, forged documents, an AK-47 assault rifle, pistols, bank cards and large sums of cash, which were used to recruit potential arsonists.
Prosecution
Currently, the organizer of the FSB agent group and his accomplice have been notified of suspicion under Part 2 of Art. 111 (treason committed under martial law) and Part 3 of Art. 358 (forgery of documents, seals, stamps and forms, sale or use of forged documents, seals, stamps) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
To expose the group, law enforcement officers conducted about 40 searches in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Poltava regions.
