Russian spies who planned terrorist attacks in Kyiv and Lviv to face trial
Source: Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)
The Security Service of Ukraine, SBU, has completed a pre-trial investigation against four Russian agents who were plotting terrorist attacks in Kyiv and Lviv.
The saboteurs’ ring had planned a series of large-scale explosions in Kyiv on May 9, targeting home improvement centers and cafes. According to the investigation, they acted on the orders from Russian intelligence services.
The agents allegedly placed explosive devices in three home improvement centers in Kyiv, disguising them as tea packaging. They were also plotting another terror act planting a bomb near one of the city cafes.
The counterintelligence and investigative efforts of the SBU helped foil the plot. The suspects were arrested as well as their two accomplices.
The investigation found that their saboteur ring handler, Russian military intelligence officer Yuriy Syzov, was also involved in organizing a sabotage attempt in the Lviv region in February 2024. The SBU similarly prevented the terror act that was set to blow a military production. The four suspects are now facing charges on five counts 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.