The SBU and police have thwarted a terrorist attack that Russian special services were preparing against the head of a defence enterprise in Kyiv Region. According to the SBU, the assassination attempt was organised by the FSB.
The enterprise chief was to be blown up with explosives attached beneath the driver’s seat of his car. The SBU and police discovered and defused the bomb in advance; it contained 1 kg of RDX, equivalent to 2 kg of TNT.
"It has been established that the attack was prepared by a 63-year-old pensioner who relocated to the capital region from Luhansk Region. In February this year, the FSB recruited him through his son, who left the temporarily occupied territory and lives in the Russian Federation,” the SBU said.
The suspect received instructions from Russian handlers and bought two mobile phones and a power bank. A month before the planned killing, he collected the remaining bomb components from a stash. A few days later, he assembled all the parts and attached the explosives to the car.
"He also placed a camouflaged phone opposite the vehicle with a connected power bank, which provided the handlers in the Russian Federation with an online feed to activate the detonation,” the statement said.
Immediately after planting the explosives, the man travelled to Poland by coach. From there, he planned to flee to Russia.
"According to the SBU, the suspect was detained in the Republic of Poland while attempting to travel to the territory of Russia in transit via Belarus,” the statement said.
As part of the pre-trial investigation, SBU investigators and prosecutors initiated a request to the law enforcement authorities of the Republic of Poland to extradite the detainee to Ukraine. He has been notified in absentia of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 15 and Part 1 of Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (attempted terrorist act).