In Kropyvnytskyi, a military special unit was preparing an assassination attempt on an official.

The Security Service of Ukraine announced that it had foiled a terrorist attack in central Kropyvnytskyi . According to investigators, a Russian intelligence agent was plotting an assassination attempt on a government official.

The SBU reported this.

The suspect is a 27-year-old Ukrainian conscript who left his military unit without permission and went into hiding in the Kirovohrad region. Investigators believe he was recruited by a Russian intelligence officer while searching for part-time work online.

Law enforcement officials determined that the man had been tasked with tracking down the head of a government agency responsible for the region’s defense training and detonating an improvised explosive device near a local café. To accomplish this, he collected information about the official’s daily routine and travel routes.

After conducting reconnaissance, the suspect gave his handler the coordinates of a location near which the government official had frequented. He was then to receive instructions on how to manufacture explosives and detonate them remotely.

The man was detained immediately after informing his Russian handler of his readiness to carry out the mission. Investigators charged him under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine —high treason committed under martial law. The penalty under this article carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison or life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

Earlier, Security Service officers and police detained a terrorist who, on orders from Russian intelligence services, blew up a car in Odessa on February 16.