The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) prevented an assassination attempt on a high-ranking official of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which Russian special services planned to carry out on the eve of May 9.
SBU reported this.
According to the investigation, the Russian special services planned to use the officerʼs murder to create a propaganda effect by May 9. The agent was to set up an ambush near the soldierʼs residence and shoot him with a machine gun while he was driving.
Special services have detained a killer in Odesa. He was caught thanks to proactive work and a report from a local resident who contacted the SBU hotline about the suspicious behavior of an unknown man.
The detainee turned out to be a repeat offender from the Donetsk region, previously convicted of premeditated murder. According to the investigation, the Russians recruited him through Telegram channels, where the man was looking for a quick buck.
After being recruited, he arrived in Odesa, rented an apartment, and began to monitor the Ukrainian military. In particular, the agent conducted reconnaissance of the territory and identified places for future ambushes.
Later, a curator from Russia gave him the coordinates of the weapons caches. There, the suspect took an AK-74 assault rifle and two loaded magazines. He used a bag with a double bottom to secretly transport the weapons around the city.
During the searches, law enforcement officers seized a machine gun with ammunition and a mobile phone through which the suspect contacted the Russian curator. The man has now been charged under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: high treason under martial law and an unfinished attempt to commit a terrorist act.
He is currently in custody. If convicted, the detainee faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
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