Georgian, Armenian citizens attempt to smuggle explosives into Russia Operation by special services

Special services of Georgia have prevented an attempt to transport a cargo of explosives from Odessa to Voronezh. Seven citizens of Georgia, three citizens of Ukraine and two citizens of Armenia are suspected in the crime.

According to the State Security Service (SSSG), 7 citizens of Georgia were involved in bringing 14 kilograms of explosive devices recovered by the counter-terrorist center to Georgia, moving them across the country, transiting one of the containers to the Russian Federation, and placing the other one in the capital, Caliber.Az reports citing Georgian media.

As it is clear from the briefing held in the service, 3 citizens of Ukraine and 2 citizens of Armenia were also involved in the actions.

As a result of the complex actions carried out by the Counter-Terrorist Center, on the basis of the testimonies of the interviewed witnesses and the recovered audio files, it is established that the mentioned explosive devices and substances were brought from the Ukrainian city of Odesa through Romania, Bulgaria and Türkiye to Georgia on January 19 of this year through the checkpoint "Sarfi" in a minivan owned by a citizen of Ukraine. Type of car and it was planned to take it to the Russian Federation, specifically in the city of Voronezh, through the checkpoint "Dariali".

According to the materials of the case, the Ukrainian citizen, candidate for deputy of Kyiv district of Odesa district in 2020 from the party "Servant of the People" Andrey Sharashidze, originally from the city of Batumi, had to organize the mentioned process.

Sharashidze was actively monitoring the movement of the aforementioned explosive devices from outside Georgia.

"The counter-terrorist center of the State Security Service, as a result of operational search and investigative activities, removed several units of special explosive devices and a large amount of explosives.

As part of the investigative actions, based on the preliminary operational information, as a result of the search of a specific motor vehicle by the employees of the counter-terrorist center, two units of accumulators intended for an electric car were removed. Existing batteries were used as containers.

Currently, active investigative and operational activities are underway in order to inform the persons involved in criminal activities, to make special explosive devices, to determine the route of movement, the final destination, to identify the objects of the attack and to obtain evidence.