SBU arrests a Russian saboteur plotting arsons in Kirovohrad
Source: SBU
Ukrainian Security Service, SBU, said on Wednesday its operatives prevented a sabotage plot organized by Russia’s FSB in the Kirovohrad region, where a 21-year-old local resident planned to set fire to an electrical substation supplying power to a military airfield and other strategic facilities in the area.
An investigation found that FSB operatives contacted the suspect in August 2024 after he posted his pro-Kremlin on Telegram channels. Initially, the man was tasked with gathering intelligence on the state of energy infrastructure, the locations of military hospitals, and territorial recruitment centers.
The agent’s next assignment was to burn down an electrical substation and take the sabotage act on video, which would get him a reward of 200,000 Russian rubles (som 75,000 hryvnias).
SBU agents tracked his activities, and detained him before the arson attack. They also seized his phone containing communications with FSB handlers.
The suspect has been charged with treason under Article 111 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code. A court has ordered him held in custody, and if convicted, he faces life imprisonment with confiscation of assets.
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