SBU reports detention of hitman planning murder of prominent public figure
Counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has thwarted a contract killing of a prominent public activist in Kyiv region, whose name has not been disclosed.
"As a result of preemptive actions, a hitman working for the FSB was detained. The special operation was conducted under the personal coordination of the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Major General Oleksandr Poklad," the intelligence agency reported on its website on Thursday.
As the investigation revealed, the perpetrator planned to shoot the activist during his morning walk with his dog in the woods. "To this end, the agent tracked the hourly daily routine and movement routes of the potential victim over an extended period and received coordinates of a cache from the FSB, where he retrieved a pistol with ammunition and a silencer. Following instructions from the Russian special service, the offender was then to spend the night in the woods near the public figure's residence and kill him with several shots from an ambush. SBU officers uncovered the enemy plot in advance and detained the hitman in an ambush while he was preparing for the assassination attempt," the statement said.
According to the SBU, the Russian occupiers' order was executed by a 19-year-old resident of Mykolaiv recruited by the enemy, who published posts supporting fascist and Nazi ideology.
Investigators notified the agent of suspicion under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 2 of Article 111 (high treason committed under martial law); Part 1 of Article 14, Item 11 of Part 2 of Article 115 (preparation for premeditated contract murder); Part 1 of Article 263 (unlawful handling of weapons, ammunition, or explosives). The perpetrator remains in custody.