The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained a Russian saboteur who arrived from the Middle East to prepare explosions at Ukrzaliznytsia facilities, SBU spokesman Artem Dekhtyarenko said.

"The counterintelligence of the Security Service prevented a series of large-scale sabotage on the railway by detaining an enemy agent during a special operation in Chernivtsi," the spokesperson said in a video message posted on the Telegram channel of the SBU on Monday.

According to Dekhtyarenko, the detainee was on the agent communication of the special services of the "DPR" controlled by the Russian Federation, has a passport of a citizen of Ukraine and Kyiv residence permit, but for a long time he was on "conservation" in one of the Middle Eastern countries.

"After the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation, the agent received the task from his curators to arrive in Ukraine. Here he was supposed to collect intelligence on the transport channels for the supply of weapons and military equipment, the location of fuel tanks and the deployment of Ukrainian troops in Bukovyna," said the spokesperson of the SBU.

He stressed that on the basis of the data collected by the agent, the enemy planned sabotage, including explosions at railway facilities and logistics warehouses.

"Currently, the agent has been informed of suspicion (participation in a terrorist group or terrorist organization) and a preventive measure has been chosen in the form of detention," Dekhtyarenko added.