The SSU Counterintelligence has prevented large-scale sabotage on Ukrainian railways. As a result of an operation, the Service uncovered and neutralized an enemy agent network that had orders for a series of explosions on the railways, which are used to deliver weapons and equipment to the frontline.

Through proactive efforts, the SSU apprehended an enemy agent who was preparing to derail the first train.

To carry out the sabotage, he was preparing a homemade ‘brake shoe’ – a device that was supposed to cause the train carrying ammunition for the AFU to derail.

To record this act on video, the perpetrator placed several cameras around the railway track, disguised as bird nests, to record the sabotage in real time.

According to the investigation, the enemy asset was a resident of Rivne and worked for the 316^th intelligence centre of the GRU (the main directorate of the general staff of the russian armed forces), located in the Crimea.

The individual acted as part of a network that included two other traitors currently hiding in the temporarily occupied peninsula. The organizer of the network is 43-year-old Roman Yakymchuk. The ‘liaison’, who searched for and set tasks for the agent, is a former Ukrainian law enforcement officer Oleksandr Ignatiev, fired in 2014 for corruption and drinking on the job.

To work with the saboteur in Kyiv, Yakymchuk and Ignatiev requested USD 100,000 from the GRU. Only 40% of this amount they promised to pay directly to the executor in the capital.

Yakymchuk and Ignatiev planned to take the rest of the money for themselves, concealing this fact from the leadership of russian military intelligence.

The SSU Counterintelligence uncovered the aggressor’s plans at an early stage, detained the enemy saboteur and documented his handlers.

SSU investigators notified all three persons of suspicion of crimes under the Artiles of the CCU (in accordance with the actions committed by each of them):

• 111.2 (high treason, committed under martial law);
• 14.1, 27.4, 113.2 (preparation and incitement to commit sabotage, under martial law);
• 263.1 (illegal handling of weapons, ammunition or explosives).

Yakymchuk and Ignatiev were notified of suspicion in absentia. The detained agent is in custody and faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The operation was carried out by the SSU Office in Kyiv and Kyiv region under the procedural supervision of Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office.