Ukraine foils Russian-backed terror plot in Kyiv, Zhytomyr PHOTO

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), working in coordination with the National Police, has successfully prevented a series of planned terrorist attacks in northern Ukraine orchestrated by agents of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the SBU announced on its Telegram channel.

During the operation, authorities detained two Russian operatives who were in the process of manufacturing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) intended for deployment in crowded public areas in Kyiv and Zhytomyr. Investigators determined that the operation involved a 24-year-old female contract soldier in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and her 25-year-old friend, both of whom were integrated into an FSB espionage network. In December 2025, law enforcement had already apprehended three other members of the same network following a terrorist attack in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district.

According to the investigation, the operatives were recruited through a Telegram channel offering “easy earnings.” The FSB reportedly provided financial support to rent an apartment in Zhytomyr, where the suspects established an underground laboratory to produce IEDs under Russian intelligence guidance. Components were procured from local stores and markets, and the suspects took measures to disguise themselves, including changing clothing to avoid detection.

Once the devices were prepared, the operatives awaited further instructions from the FSB regarding specific locations for planting the explosives. The SBU intercepted the plot before any attacks could occur, meticulously documenting the suspects’ actions and arresting them during the assembly of the first bomb.

Searches of the apartment yielded explosive components and smartphones containing evidence of coordination with Russian intelligence.

The suspects have been formally charged under the statute “Preparation of a terrorist act by a group of persons in prior conspiracy.” If convicted, they face up to 12 years in prison along with the confiscation of property.

By Vafa Guliyeva