The woman detained for the attack on volunteer and activist Serhiy Sternenko is a 45-year-old native of Odesa Region who lived in Kyiv. According to the SBU, Russian special services remotely recruited her at the end of 2024 when she was looking for work online.
At first, on the orders of her supervisors, the woman followed certain cars, took pictures of them and passed on information about them. Later, she started receiving new assignments.
"In particular, according to the instructions of her handler, she was to make an improvised explosive device, and also changed her place of residence – she moved to an apartment in the central part of Kyiv. From mid-April, the suspect began to follow the public activist and volunteer Serhiy Sternenko, settling in the same residential complex as him," the SBU said.
Later, the woman was given the coordinates of a weapons cache with a PM pistol and ammunition. On the morning of 1 May, the curator gave the woman the task of killing the activist near his home.
"Thanks to previous observations, the attacker already knew the brand of the car and the approximate time when the volunteer was leaving his home. As Serhiy Sternenko was leaving the house, the Russian agent fired several shots: one of the bullets hit him in the leg. The attacker was immediately detained on the spot by the Security Service of Ukraine," law enforcement officials said.
As a result of the searches, they found a phone with evidence of her work for Russia, as well as components for an improvised explosive device, which she kept in another apartment.
The detainee faces up to 15 years in prison.
Today, Shevchenkivskyy District Court is choosing a pre-trial restraint for her. The suspect's lawyer said she had pleaded guilty, reports hromadske.
"She admits her guilt, will cooperate with the investigation, she was just recruited by the FSB, not knowing that it was the FSB. She thought that they were SBU officers, she believed that she was working for Ukraine until the last moment," the suspect's lawyer assured.
Judging by the correspondence on the woman's phone published by the SBU, the curator communicated with her in illiterate Ukrainian.
Attempted assassination of Serhiy Sternenko
On 1 May, Serhiy Sternenko reported that an attempt had been made on his life and that he was wounded. The attacker was detained at the scene. Sergiy underwent surgery and his life is not in danger. The bullet went through and through. The woman was notified of being suspected of treason and attempted murder.
This is not the first attempt on the activist's life. In 2018, while defending himself from his attackers, Serhiy inflicted wounds on one of them, which resulted in his death. They tried to convict Sternenko for this.
Serhiy Sternenko is a civic activist and volunteer who supplies the Ukrainian army with FPV drones.