Engineer with Russian citizenship detained in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast for attempted attack on law enforcement

Law enforcement officers have detained a former engineer in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast who manufactured an improvised explosive device and attempted to target police officers. The suspect was in contact with Russia's FSB, held Russian citizenship and moved to occupied territories after Russia's full-scale invasion.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine; National Police in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast

Quote from the Security Service: "The Security Service and the National Police have detained a man in Prykarpattia who manufactured an improvised explosive device.

The perpetrator installed a tripwire with explosives in front of the second entrance door of a house. It was meant to detonate when law enforcement officers entered the premises."

Details: According to experts, the device belongs to the category of high-risk explosive devices.

Bomb disposal experts neutralised it by controlled detonation.

The improvised explosive was packed with shrapnel made from self-tapping screws.

Police added that the suspect, an engineer by training, independently designed, built and armed the device.

The detained man holds Russian citizenship and maintained contact with Russia's FSB.

He previously worked as an engineer in the oil and gas sector.

After the start of Russia's aggression, he frequently visited occupied territories, where he came to the attention of Russian secret services. During the first year of the full-scale invasion, he moved to the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast and returned to Ukraine-controlled territory in 2025.

Since then, he had been living near a military facility in the Ivano-Frankivsk district.

During the arrest, law enforcement officers seized:

• hand-drawn diagrams of an electric detonation network;
• wires and a sapper tester for electrically controlled detonation;
• notebooks with draft notes;
• three USB drives containing spyware;
• mobile phones and SIM cards of Russian mobile operators.

The man has been served with a notice of suspicion under Article 263.1 of Ukraine's Criminal Code (illegal handling of weapons, ammunition or explosives). A court has ordered his pre-trial detention.

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