SBU thwarts Russian dual-stage bombing plot in central Ivano-Frankivsk
Law enforcement officers reported they thwarted double terrorist attack (Photo: Security Service of Ukraine)
Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) disrupted dual-stage terror plot organized by Russian special services inside a residential courtyard in central Ivano-Frankivsk, the officers wrote on July 21.
Counterintelligence data indicated Russian operatives planned an initial explosion via the remote activation of an improvised explosive device (IED) situated in a residential parking area. A second, follow-up blast was specifically timed to detonate after emergency crews and local police arrived at the scene.
Investigators established that a local unemployed resident, who was seeking quick earnings on Telegram channels, managed the local logistical preparations. The suspect rented an apartment overlooking the planned target site and hidden-mounted a smartphone connected to a power bank in the courtyard, allowing his Russian handlers to survey the location and select precise detonation points.
The suspect purchased the raw chemical and structural components necessary to assemble two IEDs. Under direct instructions from Russian handlers, the agent disguised the explosives inside standard kitchen stockpots. Each device contained approximately six kilograms of explosive material, an electronic detonator, and hundreds of metal bolts intended to maximize shrapnel damage upon impact. Guidance provided to the suspect specified leaving the first device among civilian vehicles in the parking lot.
Russian handlers planned to remotely trigger the second shrapnel-loaded bomb after local residents, law enforcement, paramedics, and firefighters rushed to the scene of the initial blast.
SBU representatives stated that counterintelligence units have identified the specific Russian intelligence officers responsible for directing the foiled attack.
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