Saboteurs arrested for arson attacks on railway in Kharkiv and Rivne
Source: Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)
Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, said on Friday it has detained three Russian-recruited saboteurs in the Kharkiv and Rivne regions. The men were caught setting fire to relay cabinets at “Ukrzaliznytsia” railway facilities.
Recruited by Russia’s FSB, the men behind a string of arsons plotted to disrupt the “transfer of heavy weaponry and ammunition for the Ukrainian army”.
One of the arsonists, an Odesa native and former convict, was caught red-handed in Kharkiv while setting fire to a relay cabinet controlling at a key railway junction in the region.
The FSB also used two jobless men in Rivne to set fire to a relay cabinet on a major railway line in western Ukraine.
Investigations found Russian intelligence scouted for potential saboteurs on Telegram using financial reward as a bait for their recruitment.
The SBU raid found the arsonists’ mobile phones “containing evidence of their criminal activities”.
The suspects are currently in custody and face life imprisonment under Art. 113 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.
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