The security forces detained three Russians involved in the preparation and commission of terrorist acts at the facilities of the Sverdlovsk Railway (SvZhD). The FSB reports that the attacks were planned on the instructions of “Ukrainian neo-Nazis.” The detainees admitted their guilt, stating that it was planned to set fire to electrical panels on the railway tracks. A criminal case has been opened on terrorism and assistance to terrorist activities
The detention of three Russians involved in the preparation and commission of terrorist attacks on the facilities of the Sverdlovsk Railway was reported by the Center for Public Relations (CSO) of the FSB on the morning of February 1. According to the agency, they planned to carry out an attack on railway infrastructure facilities on the instructions of “Ukrainian neo-Nazis.”
The moment of detention was caught on video published by the DSP. It shows security forces in a minibus blocking the car of the suspects, which was driving along a country road, after which, in just a few seconds, they pull two men out of the car and twist them. According to Kommersant-Ural, the arrest took place when the suspects were on their way to commit a terrorist act.
Later, searches were carried out in the places where the men lived, where the FSB officers found weapons to commit crimes. So, five-liter bottles with a yellow, presumably incendiary, liquid and about ten matchboxes got on the video. In addition, the symbols of the Ukrainian nationalist armed group were seized, as well as means of communication and communication containing the layout of objects.
During interrogation, the detainees confessed to preparing for the attack. One of them stated that it was planned to set fire to electrical panels on the railway tracks.
“I realize that it was from Ukraine,” the suspect said. “Brought damage to the Russian Federation to the railway by committing a terrorist act,” said the second detainee.
The FSB investigative unit opened criminal cases against the men under Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (terrorism) and Art. 205.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (assistance to terrorist activities). The detainees face from 12 years to life imprisonment.
The press service of the SVZhD “Kommersant-Ural” did not comment on the information about the preparation of a terrorist attack on the railway tracks. “Information of this kind is under the jurisdiction of the TsOS FSB. Considering what time it is now, we will not comment on this, ”the SVZhD noted.
This is not the first case of preparing a terrorist attack on railway facilities in the Sverdlovsk region. In September last year, the FSB detained 29-year-old Vladlen Menshikov, who is charged with Part 1 of Art. 281 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (sabotage) and Art. 275.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (cooperation on a confidential basis with a foreign state, international or foreign organization). According to a Kommersant-Ural source, the man installed a jumper between two rail threads in the form of a twist of aluminum wire at the 80th kilometer of the Rezh-Striganovo stretch, along which trains with Russian military equipment moved. The sabotage attempt was discovered by SVZhD employees.
During the investigation of the criminal case, it turned out that the man was trying to commit sabotage at the direction of the Ukrainian side. In addition, he supports the violent overthrow of the Russian government and the removal of the president, which he admitted to the security forces.
In Russia, such cases after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine also occur frequently. So, on January 31, 2023, the FSB reported on the detention of three eighth-graders in the Moscow region, who through Telegram came into contact with unknown persons who offered the schoolchildren to commit sabotage for money on the stretch of the Kursk direction to the Moscow region. In early January, three saboteurs were detained in the Chelyabinsk region, who were trying to disable a traction substation.
“Now the special services see three main categories that are subject to indoctrination and recruitment by the Ukrainian special services and the Armed Forces of Ukraine: schoolchildren, students, as well as persons leading an immoral lifestyle, or former prisoners. They all have the same motive: money. But the money that seemed so easy to them, they will never get. For customers, they are consumables. In addition, now all employees of the Russian special services are working around the clock, the main direction is the search for such saboteurs and demolitionists. And even if once they managed to set fire to something, it is only because they are playing an operational game, ”an interlocutor from the Russian special services told Kommersant-Ural.