FSB agents preparing sabotage operations, Dmytro Gordon's assassination detained in Kyiv – SBU

Four agents of Russia's FSB, coordinated by an ex-deputy of the outlawed "Party of Regions", were detained in Kyiv while preparing sabotage operations and collecting data on Ukraine's public figures, including the Ukrainian media personality Dmytro Gordon, for assassination purposes, reports the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

According to the investigators, the agent network was engaged in reconnaisance and subversion in Ukraine. It had a hierarchical structure with clearly defined roles. In addition to the ex-deputy as their curator, it included a saboteur, a supplier of explosive devices, and an agent specializing in external surveillance.

A photo of the agents' email correspondence, published by the SBU

The agents were planning a series of detonations on Ukrzaliznytsia's railway tracks to disrupt the Defense Forces logistics. Namely, they were to blow up a Kyiv oblast track which the Ukrainian Armed Forces use to transport equipment and personnel to the frontline. However, the SBU managed to prevent this.

The agents were also tasked with collecting data on Ukrainian public figures of interest to the FSB with the aim of their assassination. In particular, the FSB tried to obtain data on where certain individuals live and visit, their daily schedule and social circle. According to the SBU, Dmytro Gordon was one of the people whose assassination the Russian special services were preparing.

The detainees were searched and their communication devices and digital gadgets were seized.

Photo by the SBU

All four detainees are in custody. They have been notified of suspicion under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• Art. 111 (treason);
• Art. 113 (sabotage);
• Art. 258 (terrorism).

Earlier, a court in Russia sentenced Dmytro Gordon, the owner of the media outlet "Gordon", to 14 years in prison in absentia. He was convicted of calls for a war of aggression; inciting hatred with violent threats; public appeals to justify terrorism; spreading "fakes" about the Russian army.