SBU dismantles suspected Russian spy ring, 5 minors among detainees
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained nine agents of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), including five minors aged 14–15, for plotting terrorist attacks in central and eastern Ukraine, the agency said on April 16.
According to the SBU, the network operated across four regions and was planning to target residential areas and a Ukrainian military base with explosives.
The news follows a string of similar cases involving Russia recruiting underage Ukrainians to carry out sabotage, arson, and terrorist attacks across the country.
The group intended to blow up key infrastructure, including bridges and mainline railway tracks used by Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia), to disrupt military logistics, the SBU said.
The investigation found that the suspects, all local residents, were recruited through Telegram messenger channels and acted under the guidance of two FSB officers.
The network was reportedly divided into two operational cells: one responsible for manufacturing and storing homemade explosives, and the other for deploying them at designated targets.
Hidden cameras were placed near the explosives so that Russian operatives could monitor and remotely trigger the blasts.
The SBU said it intervened before any attacks could take place, arresting all members of the network and seizing more than 30 kilograms of explosives. Four of the detainees have been formally charged with high treason and illegal handling of explosives.
The two FSB officers who allegedly coordinated the operation have been charged in absentia. Ukrainian authorities are currently determining how to proceed legally with the juvenile suspects.
This incident follows a separate April 14 report from the SBU about the arrest of an instructor at a military training center in Lviv Oblast, who allegedly plotted assassinations of Ukrainian commanders.
The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy