SBU Foils Terrorist Bombing – Saves Life of ‘Duped’ Bomber

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) published a report on Monday telling how its counterintelligence (CI) department had prevented a terrorist bomb attack on a military unit in the Kyiv region on an unspecified day in December. The conspiracy was being carried out by four Ukrainians acting on behalf of Russia – they were all arrested.

The chilling aspect of the plot seems to be that having persuaded a 16-year-old youth from the Kirovohrad region to deliver the improvised explosive device (IED), it was intended to detonate the bomb remotely as he placed the device turning him into an unsuspecting suicide bomber.

The explosive device was put together by two women from Vinnytsia, acting under instructions from their Russian handler, and hidden nearby. The completed IED was then collected by a 19-year-old man who transported the explosives and a Ukrainian-style military uniform to a second cache, where they were picked up by the 16-year-old.

The IED was contained in a tactical backpack which the bomber was to deliver to a building in the Kyiv region being used by Ukrainian defense forces personnel. The bomb contained a cell phone which was to both trigger the device and allow the gang members to monitor the youth’s movements online. According to the results of the SBU investigation, it was planned to detonate the explosives as the young man entered the military premises.

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It was evident under questioning that the 16-year-old had no idea that he was destined to be a suicide bomber having been instructed to place the backpack containing the bomb at the entrance to the building and the bomb detonated after he had left.

Having learned of the plot in advance the SBU carried out surveillance of the gang and took a series of unspecified measures to prevent the terrorist attack from succeeding. As a result of its operation the SBU was able to apprehend the bomber and arrest the other three criminals.

The attack itself would have suggested that it had been carried out by a “disgruntled member” of Ukraine’s own armed forces which was one of the reasons for the bomber wearing military uniform.

The SBU investigation further established that the two young men were unaware of the identities of each other or the two women bomb-makers but all four were working for a single Russian handler. During the arrests, the SBU CI operators seized mobile phones which contained evidence of the suspects’ interaction with the Russian operative. Among the items recovered was 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of explosives and other materials intended to be used to manufacture IEDs.

The suspects have been charged with treason committed under martial law as well as the illegal possession of weapons, ammunition or explosives in contravention of Ukraine’s Criminal Code. They are currently being held in custody without the possibility of bail. If convicted, they face life imprisonment with confiscation of property.