SBU officers exposed and blocked in Dnipro city the activity of an organized criminal group involved in terrorist acts in different regions of the country.

Allegedly, the group was headed by a criminal authority, known as "Ariets", who was previously convicted resident of the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Additionally, the attackers specialized in serious crimes, including contract murders.

The suspects coordinated their activities with Russian special services controlled representatives of criminal circles. To organize and agree on the terms of the crime, the leaders of the group met with Russian curators on the territories of Russia, EU countries and the Middle East.

According to the investigation, the group members are involved in the commission of about 18 terrorist attacks in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizzhya, Kharkiv and Poltava regions, such as mining and arson of residential and commercial buildings with people inside.

During searches at the places of suspects’ residences, vehicles and offices, SBU officers seized 16 firearms, almost 1,700 rounds, grenades, data storages and hard copy information, including information on targets and victims. Furthermore, almost UAH 200,000 (USD 7,408), over USD 20,000 and EUR 3,000 were discovered as well.

Ultimately, seized weapons and items were sent for examination.

Within the framework of criminal proceedings initiated by the SBU investigators under Art.258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the leaders of the group were served notices of suspicion of committing the crime. The issue of choosing custody as a type of detention without bail is being decided.

SBU investigators are searching all persons involved in the illegal activity in order to bring them to justice. Information on the suspects’ involvement into other crimes, including contract murders, is being checked.

The detection operation was conducted by the SBU Counterintelligence jointly with the SBU Main Directorate for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime, as well as with the Main Department of the National Police in Dnipropetrovsk region under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor's Office of Dnipropetrovsk region.