SBU detains suspected Russian agents accused of plotting train derailment in Chernihiv Oblast

Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, said its officers caught the suspects “red-handed” as they were heading to the site of the planned sabotage.

The SBU said officers found two homemade explosive devices that the suspects allegedly intended to plant under Ukrainian railway tracks.

According to the investigation, the alleged Russian assignment was carried out by a Kyiv resident who had been mobilized into the military but left his unit without authorization. The SBU said he agreed to cooperate with Russia through a Telegram channel in exchange for a promise to help him illegally leave Ukraine.

The security service said he recruited an acquaintance, a student at a Kyiv university, to take part in the alleged sabotage operation on Russia’s behalf.

“To prepare for the sabotage, the suspect purchased chemical components, mobile phones and other materials for making improvised explosive devices. She handed the purchased items to her accomplice, who assembled the explosives according to instructions from a Russian handler. Before planting the devices, the agents conducted reconnaissance along railway lines several times to identify the most vulnerable section for the attack,” the SBU said.

The SBU said searches of the suspects’ temporary residence uncovered components for making explosives, including chemicals, laboratory equipment, detonators and communications devices.

SBU investigators notified both detainees that they were suspected of attempted sabotage committed by a group acting in prior conspiracy under martial law, under Part 3 of Article 15, Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 113 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.

The suspects remain in custody. If convicted, they face life imprisonment and confiscation of their property.