SBU arrests Russian agent caught preparing terrorist attacks in Zaporizhzhia

The counterintelligence unit of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) says it thwarted a series of terrorist attacks planned by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) against Ukraine’s Defense Forces servicemen in the frontline city of Zaporizhzhia, southeastern Ukraine.  The SBU caught a Ukrainian man working as a Russian agent who was preparing to blow up vehicles belonging to employees of local military enlistment offices.  He faces life in prison for state treason committed under martial law conditions, according to an SBU post on Telegram. Acting on instructions from the FSB, the man was tasked with identifying the vehicles and then planting remote-controlled improvised explosive devices underneath them. The agent reportedly conducted daily surveillance of parking lots near the military enlistment offices to identify potential targets. He received detailed instructions from his Russian handler regarding the timing and methods of carrying out the attacks using explosives. The SBU detained him while he was conducting reconnaissance near a Defense Forces facility and before he committed any terrorist attacks.  A mobile phone containing evidence of his criminal activities was seized from him. Furthermore, the security agency discovered that the suspect had been spying on transformer substations in Zaporizhzhia, which Russians also targeted, leaving Ukraine with an energy crisis.  According to the investigation, the agent was identified as a security guard at a local energy company that the FSB remotely recruited in April of this year. He came to the aggressor's attention through his daughter, who now lives in Moscow and cooperates with the Russian special service. Read more: SBU says it prevented May 9 Kyiv bomb attacks by Russian saboteurs SBU source says drones hit power substation in Russia’s Lipetsk Oblast, claims attack on another oil depot SBU detains ex-postal worker for collaborating with Russians during occupation of Izium SBU detains ex-lawmaker of pro-Russian party while attempting to flee Ukraine