Фото: t.me/SBUkr
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said it had prevented an assassination attempt on a Russian opposition figure who now heads one of Ukraine-wide public organisations. She was allegedly sent to Ukraine in transit through Belarus.
According to the Ukrainian security service, the assassination was being prepared on orders from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). The woman was supposed to shoot the activist with a combat pistol from an ambush near a gym in the capital where he works as a kickboxing coach. The opposition figure has fought on Ukraine’s side since 2022, initially in the Kyiv region and later on the eastern front.
The agent was detained near the sports complex while conducting reconnaissance of the area and choosing a position for the attack. The SBU says the woman was recruited to cooperate with Russian intelligence services in exchange for a promise to drop a case against her for illegal possession of drugs. She is an unemployed resident of Russian-occupied Melitopol.
According to the SBU, the woman underwent training at a local “branch” of the FSB, where she was taught tradecraft, navigation and shooting. She was then sent to Zhytomyr in transit through Belarus before travelling to Kyiv.
In the capital, according to the SBU, the woman regularly changed hotels and left a special mark on her room door to check whether anyone had entered while she was away.
Later, she received coordinates from her Russian handler for a cache in a forested area of Kyiv, where she collected a pistol and ammunition. The weapon was found during a search of the detainee’s hotel room. Her smartphone, which she used to communicate with the handler, was also seized. The SBU says his identity has already been established.
The detainee was charged under Part 2 of Article 111 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, which provides for liability for high treason committed under martial law. She is being held in custody without the right to bail. If convicted, she faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The operation was carried out by SBU officers in Zhytomyr Region, coordinated by the SBU Counterintelligence Department and under the procedural supervision of the regional prosecutor’s office.