The SSU has conducted counter-sabotage drills in the border areas of Rivne region in an effort to increase security near the border with belarus.

The exercise was held in conditions as close to real as possible, involving a significant number of personnel of the Defence Forces, military and special equipment, including UAVs.

According to the exercise scenario, ‘saboteurs’ disguised as civilians secretly entered the oblast, captured a town council building in a district centre near the belarusian border and took all the employees in the premises hostage.

Using psychological pressure and death threats, the ‘attackers’ tried to force the ‘victims’ to cooperate with the enemy and reorganize the work of the council in favour of the aggressor state.

The leadership of the Operational Staff made a decision to carry out an assault. In the course of the special operation, the law enforcement team with the involvement of the SSU Special Operations Center ‘A’ neutralized the simulated enemy group and liberated the ‘hostages’.

The drills involved units of the SSU, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the National Police, the State Emergency Service as well as representatives of executive authorities and local government.

According to the coordination group, the participants effectively practiced the interaction algorithm.

The group also identified areas for further improvement of the procedure for preventing and neutralizing threats to Ukraine’s state security.