The National Police and the Security Service of Ukraine have thwarted a series of contract killings organized by Russian agents.
According to Ukrinform, the National Police reported this.
Officers of the National Police’s Department of Internal Security, in cooperation with the SSU’s Main Directorate in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, shut down an enemy spy network that was planning a series of high-profile murders. The criminal group was operating in the capital and the region.
The operations were coordinated by a handler from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, who specializes in conducting intelligence and sabotage operations on Ukrainian territory.
He turned out to be a 39-year-old employee of the 4th Directorate of the Kubinka Special Training Center of the Russian Special Operations Forces of the enemy’s special services, with the call sign “Meteor.”
To carry out his criminal plans, he recruited four people, including a law enforcement officer. On the curator’s orders, they identified potential victims among well-known public figures or representatives of the command of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, specifically the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, the National Guard, and volunteer formations of the territorial community. After that, they began carrying out the assignment.
According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, Russian agents were “hunting” for volunteers and military personnel.
“They used vehicles equipped with flashing lights under the guise of security personnel to leave the crime scene unhindered. Weapons and ammunition were taken from hideouts in the Kyiv and Cherkasy regions,” the statement reads.
One of the agents—the head of a security firm—was responsible for providing transportation for the team. The vehicle he provided, branded as a company car and equipped with flashing lights, helped them quickly leave the crime scene without attracting unnecessary attention.
A 46-year-old displaced person from Zaporizhzhia drove it. She was supposed to take the hitman to the crime scene and then drive him to a pre-rented apartment.
The direct perpetrator, who had a prior conviction for robbery, was recruited by a Russian special services officer back in 2022 in Kherson through his female contact. After the city’s liberation, she left with him for Russia and continued to assist in subversive activities and recruit potential agents.
The group members communicated via foreign messaging apps. They ensured the confidentiality of their conversations and did not save their chat histories. They obtained weapons and necessary ammunition from pre-prepared caches in the Kyiv and Cherkasy regions.
All members of the spy network were detained while preparing to assassinate the commander of one of the volunteer units of the Kyiv territorial community.
During searches of the suspects’ premises, law enforcement officers seized weapons, spare SIM cards, and mobile phones containing evidence of illegal activities.
In addition, it has been established that the recruited agents planned to carry out several more assassinations of influential Ukrainian figures using explosive devices that they intended to plant under vehicles.
All members of the network have already been notified of charges under Part 2 of Article 111 (treason), Part 2 of Article 15, subparagraphs 6, 11, and 12, and Part 2 of Article 115 (completed attempted murder for mercenary motives, committed on commission, by prior conspiracy of a group of persons) and Part 2 of Article 362 (unauthorized actions with information processed in electronic computers, automated systems, computer networks, or stored on data storage media, committed by a person who has access to such information) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
They face a sentence ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The actions of the curator and his resident are classified under Part 2 of Article 111 (treason), Part 2 of Article 15, Part 2 of Article 28, and Part 2 of Article 113 (attempted sabotage committed by a group of persons acting in concert) and Part 2 of Article 15, subparagraphs 6, 11, 12, Part 2 of Article 115 (completed attempt at intentional homicide, i.e., the intentional unlawful causing of another person’s death, where the person performed all actions deemed necessary to carry out the crime to completion, but the crime was not completed for reasons beyond their control, committed for mercenary motives, on commission, and by prior conspiracy of a group of persons) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
They have been charged in absentia.
As reported by Ukrinform, Ukrainian security forces have neutralized a 10-member Russian intelligence and combat network that was spying on the Armed Forces and plotting contract killings of public figures, including volunteer Serhii Sternenko and Russian Volunteer Corps fighter Illia Bogdanov.
