Three of Kiev’s special forces operatives were killed in a shootout and three others captured, the agency has said
Russian law enforcement has broken up a Western-trained Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group that planned terrorist attacks against transport infrastructure in Russia’s Bryansk Region, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has reported.
During a gunfight with the perpetrators, three of the group’s members were killed and three others, including its commander, were captured, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday.
It described the saboteurs as special forces operatives, supervised by Ukraine’s military intelligence (GUR).
“The control and training of the… group was carried out with the direct participation of Western intelligence officers in Ukraine, as well as in Lithuania, Estonia and Norway,” the statement read.
In a video of the interrogation, also published by the FSB, the commander of the saboteurs confirms that he had instructors from the UK, other European countries, and Canada.
According to the agency, six US-made assault rifles with silencers, 16kg of Czech-made plastic explosives, a large number of NATO-type grenades and cartridges, and a communication device were seized at the group’s camp, located in a wooded area.
The operation to eliminate the saboteurs was the result of coordination between the FSB, the national guard (Rosgvardiya) and the Russian Interior Ministry in Bryansk Region, the statement read.
The arrested men confessed that they had been previously involved in explosions that damaged railway tracks in Belgorod Region in September 2024, as well as in preparations for other attacks inside Russia, the FSB said.
A criminal case related to preparing sabotage has been opened, and investigations launched under criminal code articles relating to smuggling of weapons and explosives, illegal crossing of the Russian border and endangering the lives of law enforcement officers, it added.
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