The Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police have uncovered an agent group of russian intelligence that was tasked with a series of terrorist attacks in Odesa oblast.

The suspects were detained when they were preparing an explosion near one of the regional police stations.

The terrorists were going to set fire to several police cars and then, when the police arrived at the scene, remotely detonate an improvised explosive device.

To carry this out, the perpetrators stayed in a hostel near their target, purchased four canisters of petrol for arson, and kept explosives disguised as a fire extinguisher in a pre-prepared cache.

The SSU and the National Police detained them at the stage of preparation for the attack.

The law enforcement team traced them due to another investigation – that of the murder of a volunteer from Odesa region on 20 January this year. The killers set fire to the local activist’s car near his house, and when he went out to extinguish the fire, they activated an IED hidden in a backpack lying nearby.

Mobile phones with evidence of the crimes were seized from the suspects.

The detainees are three drug addicts aged 23 to 45, as well as their 46-year-old accomplice, who had previously served a sentence for theft and robbery.

The repeat offender acted separately from the rest of the group and was responsible for manufacturing IEDs and planting them in caches.

The apprehended persons have been notified of suspicion under Article 258.3 of the CCU (terrorist act resulting in the death of a person).

The suspects are in custody and face life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The operation was carried out by the SSU Office in Odesa region jointly with the National Police under the procedural supervision of the regional Prosecutor’s Office.