SBU prevents terror attack in Odesa, detains men transporting explosive-laden drone
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), jointly with the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), has thwarted another attempt by Russian special services to carry out a terrorist attack in Odesa.
That is according to the SBU press service, Ukrinform reports.
"The preventive operation resulted in the detention of smugglers who, acting on orders from the FSB, were supposed to deliver weapons to the port city, including an attack UAV with fiber-optic guidance carrying explosives," the SBU said.
According to the agency, the operation was conducted with the assistance of Ukrainian Navy Commander Oleksiy Neizhpapa.
The investigation established that the suspects hid the weapons among a wholesale shipment of tobacco products illegally transported across the Black Sea from Russian-occupied Abkhazia, Georgia.
The smugglers' route led toward neutral waters near Snake Island. According to the investigation, the cargo was transferred there from a larger vessel onto small boats for covert delivery to the Odesa coastline.
The SBU documented all stages of the suspects' activities.
Four individuals were detained in the act after delivering the excisable goods along with the weapons to the area near the Odesa port.
The investigation found that the organizer of the smuggling channel was an Odesa businessman currently abroad who is involved in illegal business operations in Abkhazia. According to investigators, he agreed to cooperate with Russia's FSB in exchange for permission to continue smuggling operations in the Caucasus region.
Investigators established that, at the request of Russian intelligence services, the suspect agreed to deliver an attack drone to Odesa. He involved three accomplices from Odesa and a local border guard officer, who was supposed to ensure the vessels could freely reach the city's coastline.
According to the SBU, on the return trip the suspects planned to take the organizer's brother out of Odesa and transport him out of Ukraine by sea.
All four detainees have been served notices of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – illegal transportation of persons across the state border.
Authorities are also considering additional charges related to the illegal transportation of weapons and excisable goods, as well as notices of suspicion for other possible participants in the criminal scheme.
Preparations are also underway to issue an in absentia notice of suspicion to the alleged organizer of the operation.
The suspects face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
For its part, HUR said the joint special operation had been underway for more than a year and involved the Tymur Special Unit.
"As part of the operational effort, investigators documented the functioning of a maritime smuggling channel across the Black Sea. The suspects used civilian vessels to transport large shipments of tobacco products while concealing weapons and Russian-made unmanned systems among the cargo," military intelligence said.
According to HUR, the organizers of the scheme also attempted to use resources of Ukraine's security and defense sector to support the illegal logistics operations near Snake Island.
During searches conducted in the Odesa and Chernivtsi regions as part of the operation, authorities seized 1,800 boxes of counterfeit tobacco products, communications equipment and documentation, illegally modified automatic firearms, as well as a Russian drone equipped with a warhead. Intelligence officials noted that the drone had been hidden among the smuggled cargo.