SIMFEROPOL, August 15. /TASS/. The Kievsky District Court in the Crimean city of Simferopol has arrested Ukrainian citizen Gennady Limeshko, suspected of plotting sabotage activities in Crimea, until October 13, 2017, a source in the court’s press service told TASS on Tuesday.

The court made this decision during an open hearing held on August 14, the source said.

"Simferopol’s Kievsky District Court… has upheld a request filed by investigators from the Federal Security Service’s department in Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to take Gennady Limeshko into custody for two months, until October 13, 2017," the source added.

According to previous reports, Limeshko, who is an agent of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), is suspected of violating Article 223.1 of the Russian Criminal Code (illicit manufacturing of explosives, as well as manufacturing and repairing of explosive devices). The article stipulates a punishment of three to six years in prison and a fine of 100,000 to 200,000 rubles ($1,660 to $3,330) or a fine equal to a convict’s two-year earnings.

Limeshko’s detention

As reported earlier, Limeshko, a Ukrainian citizen coming from the Kharkov region, was detained in Crimea for plotting sabotage activities. In the past, he served as a senior scout in a Ukrainian military unit taking part in the so-called anti-terrorist operation in Donbass.

Two TNT blocks were seized from the SBU agent, as well as a trigger mechanism for explosive devices, a hand grenade, containers with flammable mixtures, a handsaw for filing through electricity poles and a digital photo camera to document his activities and present a report to his seniors at the Ukrainian Security Service.

On August 9, Limeshko arrived in Crimea to implement the SBU’s orders to damage powerlines between the town of Sudak and the Novy Svet settlement that could lead to a power outage affecting an area with a population of more than 50,000. He had been also tasked to set forests in the Sudak area on fire and create conditions for landslides blocking the highway connecting Sudak and Novy Svet. Limeshko also planned to set on fire a public utility facility in the Rybachye settlement area.

The FSB department in Crimea and the city of Sevastopol has launched a criminal case. An investigation is underway to establish Limeshko’s possible accomplices.