Ukrainian law enforcement agencies cracked down on a Russian-run network planning arson attacks in populated areas of Ukraine and the EU, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on July 25.
The perpetrators intended to target shopping centers, gas stations, pharmacies, and markets in Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic countries on the instruction of Russian intelligence services, according to the statement.
Western intelligence services have warned about increasing Russian sabotage operations across Europe to sow social instability and undermine support for Ukraine.
The SBU said that the group consisted of 19 people based in Ivano-Frankivsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. They were to be dispatched abroad under falsified documents, the agency added.
The perpetrators were then supposed to record the acts of sabotage and send the footage to Russian intelligence services, which would use it for information operations and destabilization purposes.
The searches uncovered falsified documents, assault rifles, pistols, and large sums of cash, the SBU said. The suspected organizer of the group and one of the accomplices were charged with treason and forgery, facing life in prison.
Efforts to bring the other suspects to justice are ongoing, according to the SBU.
Rachel Amran
