The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the police detained a man in Kharkiv who was allegedly attempting to blow up a gas station on the instruction of Russian military intelligence, the SBU announced on Oct. 11.
According to the report, the suspected saboteur was caught while planting explosives at the gas station. The device was deactivated immediately after the suspect's arrest, the SBU said.
The man was allegedly tasked by the Russian military intelligence (GRU) to detonate the gas station to cause civilian casualties and panic.
During the investigation, law enforcement discovered that the suspect was reportedly involved in other acts of sabotage in the past, namely in the detonation of two gas stations and a railway track in Kharkiv Oblast.
According to the report, the man was a former member of a disbanded police unit. He was recruited by GRU shortly after the start of the full-scale invasion and tasked with carrying out sabotage against the critical infrastructure using homemade explosives, the SBU said.
The investigation of the suspect's activity and his alleged accomplices is ongoing. If proven guilty, the perpetrators face life imprisonment.
Alexander Khrebet
