The perpetrator turned out to be a 32-year-old local resident with a drug addiction. Russian operatives recruited him when he was searching for quick cash on Telegram channels.
At the beginning of 2025, the agent remotely received instructions from his handler in Russia. The primary targets of the enemy included reserve command posts and permanent deployment sites of Ukraine’s Armed Forces and National Guard.
According to the SBU, the suspect scouted areas with a high concentration of Ukrainian military. When he found them, he examined the perimeters for "suitable" locations to plant an improvised explosive device.
He then transmitted the coordinates to his Russian handler for "approval" before receiving further instructions on how to assemble the explosive device with a remote activation mechanism via phone.
The SBU apprehended the traitor while he was conducting reconnaissance near a military facility, where the enemy planned to carry out the attack. Officials seized his phone, which contained an anonymous chat where he communicated with Russian intelligence services.
The SBU’s investigators have charged the suspect under two articles of Ukraine’s Criminal Code:
- Part 2, Article 111 (High treason committed under martial law)
- Part 3, Article 114-2 (Dissemination of information about the movement, relocation, or deployment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations, committed under martial law).
The suspect is now in custody and faces a possible life sentence.