MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has exposed an extensive clandestine network of Ukrainian agents active in Crimea this year and has thwarted 14 attempted acts of sabotage and terrorism, the law enforcement agency said in a statement.
"The FSB, acting in coordination with the Russian Investigative Committee, suppressed the activities of an extensive network of agents acting under deep cover and run by Ukrainian intelligence agencies in 2023, which was established in the Republic of Crimea under the control of so-called Western handlers for the purpose of perpetrating high-profile acts of sabotage and terrorism targeting government officials, Russian military personnel and FSB officers, as well as the peninsula’s transport and energy facilities," the statement reads.
The agents’ handlers from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) have been identified. "Fourteen acts of sabotage and terrorism were foiled, including explosions targeting railroad tracks in six locations, two gas distribution facilities, three electrical substations and three motor vehicles. As many as 37 improvised explosive devices and over 200 kilograms of explosive substances were seized from 15 caches set up by Ukrainian intelligence agencies," the FSB noted. Ten people have already been sentenced for plotting subversive and terrorist attacks.
The plotted attacks had been targeted against Crimean Head Sergey Aksyonov, Crimean Parliament Chairman Vladimir Konstantinov, Yalta Mayor Yanina Pavlenko, pro-Russian blogger Alexander Talipov and public activist Oleg Tsaryov.
In addition, "18 agents and accomplices of Ukrainian intelligence services were detained for involvement in five acts of sabotage on railroad tracks in the Simferopolsky and Kirovsky districts of the Republic of Crimea and near the city of Feodosia, as well as in gas pipeline explosions in Simferopol and Koreiz, and the blowing up of cars belonging to a Zaporozhye Region administration official and the Russian Defense Ministry troops taking part in the special military operation," the FSB added.
To date, over 30 terrorism-related criminal investigations have been launched and the necessary investigative and search efforts are underway. If found guilty of the charges brought against them, the defendants may face up to 25 years in prison, the FSB pointed out.