The counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has prevented a terrorist attack in the center of Rivne and detained a Russian agent who was preparing an explosion near a state institution in the downtown area.
"According to the investigation, the perpetrator planted an improvised explosive device in a trash can near an administrative building and 'reported' this to his curator from the Russian Federation via a messenger. Subsequently, the rascists planned to remotely detonate the explosives during rush hour to cause maximum casualties among the civilian population. In this way, the enemy hoped to destabilize the socio-political situation in Ukraine's border region," the SBU press service said in a Telegram channel post.
SBU officers exposed the enemy plot in advance and detained the agent "red-handed" as he attempted to flee the scene of the planned terrorist attack hastily.
Simultaneously, the improvised bomb was seized and neutralized.
According to the investigation, the aggressor country's order was carried out by a recruited courier of a local delivery service. He came to the attention of Russian special services through Telegram channels searching for "easy earnings." Following recruitment, under the pretext of deliveries, the agent traveled around the city on a moped to record external perimeters and parking lots of state facilities on his phone camera.
In this manner, the perpetrator scouted a location to commit the terrorist attack, regularly "reporting" on it to his curator from Russia.
Subsequently, the Russian intelligence operative sent his accomplice the coordinates of a cache from which he later retrieved the remote-controlled improvised explosive device.
During searches of the detainee, a smartphone was seized where he had stored reconnaissance photos and used it to contact the Russian intelligence officer.
SBU investigators have now served the agent with a notice of suspicion under Part 2, Article 15, and Part 2, Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (completed attempt to commit a terrorist act). The perpetrator is in custody without the right to post bail. He faces up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
Additionally, the issue of additionally qualifying the detainee's crimes as high treason is being resolved.
