A man in Odesa arrested for assisting Russian attacks and sabotaging railway equipment
Source: Ukraine’s Security Service
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) announced on Tuesday that its operatives have detained a man in Odesa who allegedly coordinated Russian missile and drone strikes on the southern Ukrainian city and was involved in setting fire to railway relay cabinets. The suspect faces life imprisonment if convicted.
The 39-year-old man, recruited by Russian intelligence, was reportedly tasked with spying on the locations of Ukrainian military forces and directing Russian attacks aimed at Ukraine’s air defense positions in Odesa.
In addition to his role in coordinating attacks, he acted as a saboteur, attempting to set fire to signal cabinets of Ukrzaliznytsia, the state railway operator. He was apprehended in the act of arson.
The suspect had been approached by FSB operatives in Krasnodar, Russia, where he had traveled to visit his father and registered for military service to obtain Russian citizenship.
He returned to Odesa before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. During a search of his home, authorities discovered two F-1 grenades and a mobile phone used for communication with the FSB.
The suspect is now facing several charges, including treason and sabotage.
In my previous column, I wrote about social innovations in Ukraine. Those innovations are part of civic resilience and the democratization of security, which Europe is paying close attention to right now. The EU is trying to work out how to spread responsibility for its own security across society as a whole, rather than leaving it to institutions alone. It is looking for concrete ways to bring ordinary people into the work of defense and resistance.
Petro Poroshenko’s lawyers have appealed to the High Anti-Corruption Court demanding that NABU be obligated to register proceedings regarding the fact of exerting influence on the court and to recognize Petro Poroshenko as a victim in the case of the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Iryna Mudra, due to her pressure on Supreme Court judges who were considering a lawsuit to overturn sanctions.
Internationally recognized brands and financial institutions should direct capital to Ukraine now, not waiting for the hostilities to end. This was emphasized by Rinat Akhmetov, president of FC Shakhtar, during a working visit to UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, where he met with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.
In recent days, Moscow’s official rhetoric has been dominated by hysteria over the decision of…
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.