Russian agents planned terrorist attacks targeting military vehicle and enlistment office in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast – photos

Ukraine’s Security Service (SSU) has detained two Russian agents who were planning two terrorist attacks in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, including the blowing up a Ukrainian military pickup truck and an explosion near a military enlistment office in the Nikopol district.

Source: SSU

Quote: "According to the case materials, the first target for the perpetrators was a pickup truck belonging to a mobile fire group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The terrorists were instructed to place an improvised explosive device (IED) under the vehicle and detonate it via a phone call to a device attached to the bomb."

Details: Law enforcement stated that if the first attack succeeded, the recruited agents planned a second attack near the main entrance to a military enlistment office in the Nikopol district.

Both agents were detained while assembling the IED and conducting surveillance near the Armed Forces vehicle.

Three kilogrammes of explosive material with a detonator were found in their possession, concealed in a canister filled with metal nuts.

The investigators reported that the perpetrators were two local residents, one of whom has a criminal record.

Both were recruited by Russian intelligence after seeking "easy money" through Telegram channels.

The suspects are now in custody and have been charged with preparing to commit a terrorist act. They face up to 12 years in prison.

Background:

• On 21 March, police in the city of Ternopil detained a 14-year-old schoolgirl recruited by Russian forces who was blackmailed into planning a terrorist attack near a district police station.
• On 26 March, the SSU foiled a double explosion plot near a military enlistment office in Ternopil, planned by a couple from Poltava Oblast recruited by Russian intelligence.
• On 27 March, the SSU detained another Russian agent who intended to carry out a suicide bombing near a military enlistment office in the city of Kherson, with the device set to be detonated remotely by Russian handlers.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!