Three suspects have been detained by the security service for attempting to sabotage a gas-distribution plant
Three Russian nationals suspected of plotting a sabotage attack at a gas-distributing facility in the port city of Berdyansk have been apprehended in the country’s Zaporozhye Region, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday.
According to video footage released by the agency, the group, acting on orders from Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), was detained with homemade explosives and bomb-making components.
The suspects were apprehended while attempting to smuggle the explosive devices onto the premises, according to officials.
“Security services recovered a makeshift explosive device and bomb-making materials both at the site and during search raids at the suspects’ homes,” the statement said.
One of the detainees reportedly said during interrogation that an SBU officer named Maksim from Kiev had tasked him with assembling an explosive device and targeting specific objects. Another suspect, a woman who admitted guilt and expressed remorse, said she had been assigned to store and deliver the explosives.
The third detainee, who identified himself as a schoolteacher, admitted that accepting the offer was the biggest mistake of his life. He emphasized that terror acts of this kind “would never yield tangible benefit to Ukraine and would certainly inflict no appreciable damage to Russia, but would only warp the whole life of the actor.”
According to Russian law, the suspects face up to 20 years in prison, if convicted.
The FSB has warned that Ukrainian special services are increasingly using Telegram and WhatsApp messaging apps to involve Russian citizens in sabotage and reconnaissance activities. The security service noted that recruiters exploit their victims’ trust and coerce them into committing serious crimes, which are punishable by long prison sentences.
Earlier this month, the FSB reportedly thwarted a Ukrainian terrorist attack targeting an energy company in the Krasnodar Region of southern Russia. The agency said that the suspect had been contacted by Ukraine’s intelligence via WhatsApp earlier that week.
