The Security Service of Ukraine, jointly with the National Police, thwarted a terrorist attack planned on the orders of the Russian FSB against the head of one of the enterprises of the defense-industrial complex in Kyiv Oblast. As reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the SBU press service, Russian special services planned to eliminate the official using an improvised explosive device that was to be secured under the driver's seat of his car. SBU counterintelligence officers and National Police personnel located, seized, and defused the bomb, which contained one kilogram of hexogen — an explosive whose power is equivalent to two kilograms of TNT.
Profile of the Suspect and the Recruitment Mechanism
It was established that the terrorist attack was being prepared by a 63-year-old pensioner who had moved to the capital region from Luhansk Oblast. According to law enforcement data, in February 2026 the FSB recruited him, using his son as a leverage point of pressure; the son had previously left the temporarily occupied territory and now resides in Russia. After receiving instructions from his Russian handlers, the suspect purchased two mobile phones and a power bank at one of the local stores. A month before the planned commission of the crime, he retrieved the remaining components of the improvised bomb from a pre-staged stash.
Course of the Operation and the Perpetrator's Flight
A few days later, the perpetrator assembled all the components and attached the finished explosive device to the victim's car. He additionally placed a disguised phone, connected to a power bank, opposite the car, which provided the handlers in Russia with an online feed for remote activation of the explosion. Immediately after planting the explosives, the perpetrator left for Poland by bus with the aim of crossing the border and fleeing to Russia. However, his plans fell through: he was detained on Polish territory while attempting to leave for the Russian Federation in transit through Belarus.
Legal Consequences and the Extradition Request
As part of the pre-trial investigation, SBU investigators and prosecutors initiated a request to the law enforcement authorities of the Republic of Poland for the extradition of the detained individual to Ukraine. The suspect has been notified in absentia of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 15 and Part 1 of Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — an attempted terrorist act committed as part of an organized group. The case is at the pre-trial investigation stage, and further procedural actions will depend on the outcome of the extradition proceedings.
Context: a Series of Similar SBU Operations
The thwarted terrorist attack in Kyiv Oblast is not an isolated case in the series of counterintelligence operations by Ukrainian law enforcement. Earlier, the SBU detained a hitman who, on Russia's orders, had tried to kill a senior Ukrainian Armed Forces official on the "anniversary of May 9." In Zhytomyr Oblast, two Russian agents were detained who were preparing an attack on a major general of the Armed Forces, a Hero of Ukraine. In Odesa, the SBU prevented a series of contract killings, including the preparation of an assassination attempt on the head of one of the district military registration and enlistment offices. In addition, in Kyiv, an FSB agent was exposed who was preparing an assassination attempt on a Ukrainian official, and a foreign hitman was detained who was planning the elimination of a representative of the Ukrainian Navy. The totality of these episodes indicates the systematic nature of the sabotage activity of Russian special services against Ukrainian military and civilian officials.
