The SBU detained a 16-year-old agent of the Russian Federation who manufactured explosives for a terrorist attack in Khmelnytskyi

Counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine prevented another terrorist attack in Khmelnytskyi. Law enforcement officers detained a minor Russian agent who, on the orders of Russian special services, was preparing to detonate an explosive device targeting a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, the 16-year-old resident of Chernivtsi recruited by Russians was supposed to independently manufacture an improvised explosive device and then leave it in a cache for another agent who was to carry out the attack directly.

The minor came into the view of Russian special services after he began looking for “easy” earnings on Telegram. After recruitment, his handlers sent him to Khmelnytskyi. Upon arriving in the city, following instructions from his Russian handler, the young man purchased the necessary components to make an improvised explosive device. Later he received from a Russian intelligence officer the coordinates of a stash where he was to pick up TNT with an electric detonator to complete the device.

The agent additionally “reinforced” the finished explosive device with metal nuts and left it in the designated cache. He also installed a phone camera with remote access on a tree. Using this equipment, the Russian special services were able to monitor the situation near the cache. After completing the task, the minor called a taxi and headed to the local bus station, from where he planned to take the first departure back to Chernivtsi Oblast.

SBU officers detained him at the bus station as he tried to leave Khmelnytskyi. During the arrest, the suspect’s smartphone was seized, containing evidence of his cooperation with the Russian special services. SBU investigators informed the detainee of suspicion under part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — high treason committed under martial law.

The minor is currently held in custody without the right to bail. Under the charged article he faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property. Comprehensive measures were carried out by SBU officers in Khmelnytskyi Oblast under the procedural supervision of the regional prosecutor’s office.

Previously we wrote:

• SBU detained a Russian agent who tried to carry out a terrorist attack in Mykolaiv
• A teenager planned a terrorist attack in central Kharkiv on the orders of the Russian Federation
• “Schoolboy on standby”: how a Russian agent drew a child from Mykolaiv region into high treason
• Entire crews could have died: in Mykolaiv the SBU stopped a terrorist attack prepared by a 20-year-old FSB agent
• Explosives in juice boxes, preparation of terrorist attacks: Russia recruits Ukrainian youth