The SBU apprehended surviving members of Bergman gang involved in the demolishing of bridges in Donetsk region.

The SBU officers documented that in summer 2014, leaders of the so-called "Army of the Southeast" created a number of sabotage groups. To carry out tasks of their curators, the sabotage and reconnaissance groups were supposed to steal military weapons from industrial enterprises of Luhansk region and to set up arms caches behind the lines of the Ukrainian military, so that other saboteurs could use these weapons.

The SBU established that the most active terrorist group was the one led by Valerii Bergman, callsign "German". It consisted of eight persons, mostly the local residents.

The leader of the so-called "Don Cossacks", who is currently "the commander of the 6th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Cossack Regiment named after Platov of the 2nd Army Corps of the People's Militia of the LNR", coordinated the group. Over a three-month period in 2014, the gang blew up five bridges and planted charges on another four in Donetsk region.

The SBU identified all members of the terrorist group. "We received comprehensive information and planned the operation in detail so that no one would escape punishment. We managed to do so”, the SBU emphasized.

The SBU and the National Police detained Bergman during a special operation near Lysychansk city in September 2019. The suspect had been hiding in forests and abandoned cottages in the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities for 5 years. After his arrest, the suspect admitted his guilt, and provided detailed information about the location of the caches with explosives and ammunitions intended for saboteurs, as well as information about other members of the terrorist group.

The law enforcement officers seized more than five kilos of TNT, an improvised explosive device with explosive of almost two kilos of TNT equivalent, a 152-mm. artillery round, an AK-74 rifle, ten grenades, a Star Model B pistol, almost 250 rounds of various caliber and three universal fuses to UZRGM grenades from the Bergman group's caches.

During 2019-2020, the SBU officers detained eight active members of Bergman gang. The last saboteur, who had been hiding in Russia for six years and was detained after entering Ukraine, was brought to justice in accordance with the law of Ukraine. Only two eliminated saboteurs escaped punishment.

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.