The Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB) has arrested four individuals —three of Russian nationality and a foreign citizen— who are accused of cooperating with Ukraine’s Intelligence services to gather data on military, energy, and defense facilities in different regions of the country, with the alleged objective of preparing sabotage and attacks against those infrastructures.
The actions, carried out in Maikop (Adygea), Omsk and Donetsk —territory partially occupied in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—, would have allowed the group’s activities to be neutralized, which would also have disseminated material on the Internet with the aim of encouraging the commission of crimes of a terrorist nature, the FSB said in an official statement.
According to the version of the investigators, those implicated followed instructions from their Ukrainian contacts through the Telegram messaging application and, in return for their help, they would have been promised "a substantial cash reward and their relocation to the European Union."
Images obtained by the Russian security agency show the suspects admitting their involvement in the activities described, according to the FSB itself. In one of the videos, as the service details, one of the detainees states that he agreed to take photographs of up to five targets following certain coordinates that would have been sent to him by his contacts. He also relates that they subsequently asked him to set fire to a steam locomotive, although he claims that he refused to carry out that action.
As for the suspect detained in Omsk, he would have said that he received orders to identify key infrastructures linked to the supply of energy and fuel. To do so, he compiled photographs of the complexes and the area surrounding them, material that would then have been sent to his superiors along with the corresponding coordinates and cartographic references.
The fourth arrested person, located in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), would have acknowledged that he got in touch with the Ukrainian Intelligence services with the purpose of obtaining additional income.
According to his testimony, he was entrusted with the mission of making a military vehicle explode and received instructions on how to obtain plastic explosives and a hand grenade in order to assemble a device. However, he would not have managed to carry out the attack, since he was detained by the FSB before he could execute it. During the search, the agents seized a ready-to-use homemade explosive and a grenade.
Pretrial detention and possible life imprisonment sentences
The authorities have brought criminal cases against the four detainees for charges that include conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks, cooperation with an enemy to the detriment of national security, high treason, preparation of acts of sabotage, illegal possession of explosives, and incitement to terrorism.
The four suspects are currently in pretrial detention. The FSB has emphasized that, if found guilty, they face long-term sentences that could include life imprisonment.