The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Thursday that they successfully foiled a potentially catastrophic terrorist attack orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence.
The FSB accused Kyiv of engaging in what they referred to as "nuclear terrorism."
According to an official statement released on the FSB's website, a highly trained sabotage group meticulously planted explosives on more than 30 crucial electric power lines that supplied energy to both the Leningrad and Kalinin nuclear power plants.
Their objective was clear: to disrupt the normal operations of these facilities and, ultimately, inflict severe damage to the nuclear reactors.
This brazen act, labeled by the Russian Security Service as "nuclear terrorism," was planned to take place on May 9, a significant day for Russia as it commemorates its victory in World War II, known as the Great Patriotic War.
The choice of this symbolic date only served to underscore the gravity of the intended attack.
The FSB revealed that the saboteurs managed to successfully detonate one of the pillars supporting the power lines. Subsequent to the incident, two Ukrainian individuals were apprehended.
The suspects were identified as Aleksandr Maystruk, alias "Mechanic," born in 1978, and Eduard Usatenko, alias "Maks," born in 1974.
Moreover, a joint operation with international cooperation has placed Yury Kischak, known as "YuBK" and born in 1953, who holds both Russian and Ukrainian citizenship and is currently residing in Belgium, on the wanted list.
During the investigation, Maystruk and Usatenko confessed to being recruited by Vitaly Gorbatyuk, an officer of the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service, back in 2022.
They underwent extensive training in specialized camps located in the Kyiv and Mykolaiv regions before making their way to the Russia-Belarus border via Poland, successfully breaching it through illegal means.
Additionally, the FSB identified and apprehended two Russian citizens who provided crucial support to the saboteurs.
These accomplices aided in the provision of communication devices and vehicles equipped with counterfeit state registration plates.
The explosives utilized in the plot were surreptitiously transported through an international cargo channel, traversing a route that led from the Polish city of Chelm through the Lithuanian city of Shalchininkai.
Finally, they arrived in the Rzhevsky district of Russia's Tver region concealed within a cargo trailer, cleverly equipped with concealed compartments.
In response to this alarming incident, a criminal case has been opened, citing charges related to "Sabotage" and "Illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, transfer or carrying of explosives or explosive devices."
If convicted under these charges, the maximum penalty for the former offense is 20 years imprisonment, while the latter carries a maximum sentence of eight years behind bars.