Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and National Police have detained eight alleged Russian agents accused of preparing sabotage operations in Odesa and Lviv, and say they uncovered a new recruitment scheme.
In a large-scale operation, the SBU and police detained eight suspected Russian accomplices linked to sabotage in Ukraine’s south and identified two Lviv residents whom Russian operatives allegedly tried to use “in the dark” for arson attacks, reported the press service of SBU.
According to the SBU, all the detained men - ages 19 to 73 - were recruited remotely. Their Russian handlers allegedly offered “easy money” without disclosing the true nature of the tasks. Two young men in Lviv, officials said, were deceived by operatives who posed as Ukrainian security officers.
In Odesa, officers arrested an unemployed man as he allegedly planted an improvised explosive device under railway tracks. Investigators say he retrieved the explosives from a cache prepared in advance by Russian agents and intended to blow up the line as a train passed.
Authorities also detained seven more suspects across Odesa region who, on their handlers’ instructions, allegedly set fire to railway relay cabinets to disrupt military logistics. The suspects used flammable mixtures and recorded the arsons on video as proof for clients in Russia, the SBU said.
In Lviv, security services said they uncovered two 19-year-old locals who had been persuaded by Russian agents to set fire to a post office and apartment doors. They were told it was part of an “SBU special operation” against “enemy elements,” an attempt to exploit Ukrainians’ trust in their own security services and turn that against the country, according to officials.
All those detained have been been charged with sabotage committed by prior conspiracy under martial law and intentional destruction of property by arson. The offenses carry penalties ranging from 10 years in prison to life, with confiscation of assets.
