SBU detains Russian agent who planned to blow up apartment building in Rivne
According to the SBU, the man planted a homemade explosive device in a rented apartment in the city center as part of an assignment from Russian special services, Ukrinform reports.
Russian operatives intended the remotely triggered explosion to cause mass casualties among civilians and spread panic throughout the region.
However, the SBU uncovered the plan in advance and detained the suspect while he was rigging the apartment.
The detained individual is a Lviv native who was recruited by Russian intelligence via a Telegram channel advertising easy money-making opportunities. After being recruited, he traveled to Rivne, retrieved a pre-assembled improvised explosive device from a cache identified by his handler, and brought it to a pre-rented apartment slated for detonation.
He placed the explosive on a shelf and set up a camera phone aimed at it, allowing Russian handlers to remotely film the blast.
Following the explosion, the agent intended to hide in another rented apartment in Rivne before fleeing back to Lviv.
SBU investigators have charged the suspect under multiple articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including Part 1, Article 14; Part 5, Article 27; and Part 2, Article 258 (complicity in plotting a terrorist attack committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy), and Part 1, Article 263 (unlawful handling of explosives).
The suspect is currently in custody and faces up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Earlier, the SBU and Ukraine's National Police detained two female agents of Russian military intelligence (GRU) who were planning bombings targeting judges and volunteers in Poltava and Dnipro.
Photo credit: SBU
