No bombs needed: Ukraine’s Security Service reveals Russia’s tactics to remove inconvenient official in city it considers its own

Russian special services have attempted to organize an information provocation against Victor Dorovskyi, head of the Odesa regional department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Censor.net reports. They have also tried to blackmail his wife with fabricated compromising materials.  

The attempt to discredit the head of a regional SBU office demonstrates that Russian intelligence services are deliberately targeting specific officials, seeking to destabilize governance systems without direct military intervention.

Contact through the wife and fake FSB “kompromat”

According to the SBU, a representative of Russia’s FSB contacted Dorovskyi’s wife and claimed that Russia had allegedly collected “compromising materials” against the SBU official.

On 27 March 2025, the person contacted the woman via a messenger app, warning of a planned information attack that was to be carried out through Telegram channels and media outlets.

The SBU emphasized that all information voiced by the Russian operatives was false and constituted an element of psychological pressure.

Subsequently, Ukrainian counterintelligence established that the call was made directly by an FSB representative.

Goal: removal of the SBU general

During the conversation, the FSB representative openly stated that the main objective of the Russian special service was to remove Victor Dorovskyi from his post.

According to her, such an outcome would be considered a “very high result” of an information and psychological operation.

To “resolve the issue,” she proposed a scheme: preparing a “proper” report for her superiors that would allegedly allow the FSB to shut down the PSYOP against the Ukrainian general.

Demand for $250,000 in cryptocurrency

In exchange for halting the discreditation campaign, the FSB representative demanded $250,000, insisting the money be transferred to her cryptocurrency wallet.

The SBU stated that all actions and threats by the Russian special service were documented, as Viktor Dorovskyi personally reported the incident to the SBU’s internal security units.

Earlier, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said that the Kremlin had personally threatened him amid discussions of €210 billion in frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. After this, he began spreading Russian propaganda, saying that Ukraine's victory in Russia's war was a “fairy tale” and a “complete illusion.”