The police and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained six people suspected of setting fire to more than 15 off-road military vehicles in Odesa, the security agency reported on July 29.
The National Police said in June that Russian special services encouraged minors to burn the cars of Ukrainian military personnel for money to destabilize the situation in Ukraine.
The group of Odesa residents, aged 18 to 24, allegedly acted on the order of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). The suspects made contact with a Russian operative via Telegram channels while looking for "easy money," according to the SBU.
The detainees were supervised by an FSB handler and mostly acted in pairs, the agency said.
"For example, one of them (of the suspects) would set fire to the vehicles, and the other would film it," the statement read.
The suspects detained in Odesa worked as couriers, and their company scooters allowed them to move around the city in search of military vehicles.
Law enforcement officials said that during the day, they delivered food, and at night, they set fire to military vehicles despite the curfew from midnight to 5 a.m.
Earlier in July, law enforcement agencies detained two residents aged 17 and 18 on charges of setting fire to military vehicles in Lviv. According to the investigation, one of the suspects also received an offer to find and set fire to an army vehicle for a financial reward.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
