SBU stops Russian agent planning Kyiv metro and mall bombings
Ukrainian from the Crimea attempted to organize a media person assassination in Kyiv (Photo: SBU)
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) spy, planning the assassination of a public media figure and a series of terrorist attacks in shopping malls and on one of the city’s metro stations, was arrested in Kyiv, SBU reported on Nov. 12.
The organizer of the planned attacks was identified as a resident of the temporarily occupied Crimea who began working for the Russian security service after the annexation of the peninsula.
The investigation showed that the suspect tried to recruit “like-minded” local contacts in Ukraine — citizens who, due to their age, were not subject to mobilization.
One of the Russian agents arrived in Kyiv via third countries and retrieved a Makarov pistol with a loaded magazine from a cache. He was instructed to use this weapon to assassinate a public media figure in the capital.
The agent also received orders from his Russian handlers to prepare explosions in several Kyiv shopping malls and metro stations.
He was supposed to assemble improvised explosive devices (IEDs) equipped with mobile phones for remote detonation. The planned terrorist attacks were to take place during rush hour, when the number of civilians on site would be the highest.
SBU wrote that Russia intended to use these attacks to spread panic in Kyiv and destabilize the social and political situation in Ukraine.
FSB resident from Crimea has been charged in absentia with state treason, terrorism, and illegal possession of weapons (Article 111, Part 2; Article 258, Part 2; and Article 263, Part 1 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code).
SBU added that the criminal qualification of the crimes committed by the agent-executor who arrived in Kyiv is now being determined.
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