Russian special services planned to undermine the situation in the Zakarpattia Oblast and implement an anti-Ukrainian scenario through the creation of a so-called “Republic of the Carpathian Ruthenia,” the Press Service of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported on its website, November 26.
The SBU has uncovered a group of people who, under the direction of Russian intelligence services, were preparing to create another artificial “people’s republic” in the region through the well-tested Kremlin method of the forced “federalization” of Ukraine. The plan called for the seizure of local government offices, military depots, and other strategic targets by the subversive groups, which were supposed to operate under the guise of so-called “local self-defense.”
During searches SBU investigators seized Russian-language documents containing detailed descriptions of anti-government actions and diversions designed to “create a tense situation in the Zakarpattia Oblast.”
The attackers were planning “intimidating acts directed at the representatives of the government, special services, and political and business circles” on specific dates, especially in November.
Documents seized by the SBU reveal that the leader of the group had already appointed himself for the highest position in the so-called pseudo-republic.
“Without any undue modesty,” he had prepared an estimate for more than $9 million to carry out the plans for the violent change of the constitutional government. He expected to receive that amount from the Russian managers of the “project,” the SBU reported.
According to the SBU, this citizen of Ukraine has fled the country and is hiding in Russia. The investigation is ongoing.
