MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. Viktoria Shinkaruk, a former employee at the administration of the Belgorod Region, and her accomplice have been accused of supporting terrorist activity in the interests of their curators from Ukraine, law enforcement officers told TASS.

"Viktoria Shinkaruk supported terrorists with a view to committing a terror attack. In September 2022, the defendant withdrew over 100,000 rubles ($1,093) in cash in order to commit a crime and later stashed the money," the officers said. According to them, Shinkaruk’s accomplice, Alexander Kholodkov, helped her by hiding explosive devices as he also transferred over 400,000 rubles.

Investigators say the money was meant to sponsor unidentified members of a criminal ring plotting a terrorist act. "They used the Signal and Telegram messengers for communication with their curators in Ukraine," the law enforcement officers specified.

Shinkaruk and Kholodkov were charged with the illicit trafficking of explosives, smuggling strategical essentials and resources, preparing for an attack by a conspiring group and making preparations for the manufacturing of improvised explosives. A district military court is already looking into the criminal case.

Neither Shinkaruk nor Kholodkov have pleaded guilty. They were detained in late November 2022.