Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has arrested several members of a Ukrainian saboteur group in Zaporozhye Region that was planning to stage terrorist attacks in the area, according to a statement issued by the agency on Thursday.
In the statement, the FSB said that the group, which was established by Ukrainian security services in the Russian city of Melitopol, had previously attempted to assassinate local officials. The saboteurs used self-made explosive devices and are thought to have killed at least one person and left several injured, the agency claimed.
The FSB went on to point out that the suspects were planning to plant an explosive device they had received from Ukrainian security services on a railway line and detonate it under a train transporting military cargo and hardware meant for the Russian army.
The suspects were apprehended by FSB operatives while retrieving the bomb from a stash, the agency said. It also released a video featuring aerial footage of one apparent suspect walking along a road. The clip then shows a minivan pulling over near the suspect, with operatives jumping out of the vehicle and tackling the man. Another part of the clip features several suspects with blurred faces delivering confessionary statements.
Amid the ongoing conflict, Russia’s security services have ramped up their efforts to uncover clandestine Ukrainian activities. The members of numerous Kiev-linked groups have been detained in recent months. The arrest on Thursday followed a similar FSB operation the day before in the same region, when another Ukrainian saboteur group planning to target local Russian officials was apprehended.