Ukrainian law enforcement officers neutralize Russian agents plotting to burn EU shopping centers

Ukrainian law enforcement officers successfully thwarted the attempts of a Russian Federal Security Service group to set fire to shopping centers in the European Union. As a result, the perpetrators are now facing life imprisonment.

The press service of Ukraine's Security Service reported that on Telegram.

As noted, the counter-intelligence of the Security Service and the National Police prevented a series of terrorist attacks in Ukraine and the European Union. As a result of a special operation in different regions of Ukraine, an agent group of the Russian Federal Security Service was neutralized, which was preparing arson attacks in places of mass gathering of people.

As stated by the department, the primary targets of the enemy included: 

• shopping malls, 
• gas stations, 
• drugstores, 
• markets, located in Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic States.

^{Photo: Security Service of Ukraine}

"During comprehensive measures in Prykarpattia, the organizer of an enemy group and his accomplice were detained. The perpetrators acted as part of a criminal organization that received instructions from staff members of the special service of the Russian Federation," the Security Service reports.

^{Photo: Security Service of Ukraine}

It is worth mentioning that the criminal group consisted of 19 individuals scattered in various locations within Ivano-Frankivsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, and Zaporizhzhia regions.

According to the investigation, the accused recruited candidates for arson of civilian objects for money. Personal connections in criminal circles were used to find potential executors.

^{Photo: Security Service of Ukraine}

To "dispatch" recruited arsonists abroad, those involved prepared forged documents for them. In particular:

• passports,
• driver's license,
• educational diplomas and medical cards issued for third parties.

"In this way, the Russian intelligence agency planned to illegally transport its accomplices outside of Ukraine and "legalize" them on the territory of the EU," the report says.

After committing arson, the performers were supposed to film the burning of objects on the cameras of their phones for further "reporting" to the Federal Security Service.

^{Photo: Security Service of Ukraine}

The aggressor planned to use the media files to prepare special information operations aimed at destabilizing the social and political situation in the European Union.

Throughout 37 searches of the suspects' homes, vehicles, and garages, authorities confiscated the following items used in their subversive activities: 

• cell phones, USB drives, and drafts of forged documents;
• an AK machine gun and various handguns, including a Gloсk 19 with ammunition and silencers;
• bank cards and significant amounts of cash to recruit potential arsonists.

Currently, the organizer of the Federal Security Service's agent group and his accomplice have been notified of suspicion under two articles of Ukraine's Criminal Code among them:

• Part 2 of Article 111 (treason committed under martial law);
• part 3 of Article 358 (forgery of documents, seals, stamps and forms, sale or use of forged documents, seals, stamps).

Investigative actions and operational measures are ongoing to bring all the culprits to justice. The perpetrators face life imprisonment.

For reference:

The Security Service of Ukraine has successfully halted new attempts at destabilizing the socio-political situation in different regions of our country. Employing preventive measures in Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and Zakarpattia, they have put an end to the activities of a group that aimed to disrupt military mobilization and leak sensitive information about Ukraine's armed forces.

Law enforcement officers of the Security Service of Ukraine also exposed an agent group of the Russian Federal Security Service in Odesa, which was collecting data on the location of the air defense system in the city.