Kathrine Frich
Ukraine’s security services say they have foiled a planned bomb attack in central Kharkiv.
The Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SSU, said the suspect was preparing to target police officers by luring them to a residential building with a fake emergency call.
Planned trap for police
According to the SSU, the teenager had assembled a homemade explosive device and intended to plant it in an apartment in a high-rise building in the city center.
Investigators say the plan was to place the bomb inside the apartment and then make a false call to Ukraine’s police emergency number, 102, to draw officers to the scene.
The device would then have been detonated remotely once police arrived.
Security officers detained the suspect in a hotel room where he was allegedly completing the explosive device.
Recruited via Telegram
The SSU said the 16-year-old was recruited by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, through a Telegram channel while searching for “easy money.”
According to investigators, the suspect traveled from Odesa to Kharkiv after being promised payment.
He was allegedly given the coordinates of a stash containing four kilograms of explosives, a mobile phone and additional components.
Authorities say he followed instructions sent by a Russian handler to assemble the device in his hotel room.
He was later expected to receive the address and keys to the apartment where the explosives would be planted, along with a mobile phone configured for remote detonation.
During searches, officers seized the homemade bomb and a smartphone containing evidence of communication with Russian contacts, the SSU said.
Facing terrorism charges
The suspect has been notified of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 14 and Part 2 of Article 258 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, which relate to preparation for a terrorist act carried out by a group by prior conspiracy.
If convicted, he faces up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
The case follows a deadly explosion in Lviv on February 22, when two homemade explosive devices detonated in the city center.
A 23-year-old police officer, Viktoriia Shpylka, was killed and 24 others were injured. Authorities later detained a suspect in that case.
Sources: Ukrinform; Security Service of Ukraine (SSU)
