Employees of the Federal Security Service revealed the activities of a group of Ukrainian saboteurs who planned to carry out terrorist attacks on Russian territory. One group was preparing assassination attempts on the mayor of Yalta, Yanina Pavlenko, and the head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov. And the second, under the guise of a wedding dress trade business, arranged the shipment of explosive devices from Bulgaria to different regions of the Russian Federation. The case includes both agents who deliberately agreed to cooperate with the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, and people who were used in the dark. Who conducted the recruitment, what was promised to failed terrorists and what terms of imprisonment they are threatened with – in the material of Izvestia.
Encoded group
The Federal Security Service of Russia has detained several members of the intelligence network of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of Ukraine, who were planning to carry out a series of terrorist attacks on the territory of Crimea. The victims were supposed to be the head of the republic, Sergei Aksyonov, the chairman of the parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, and the mayor of Yalta, Yanina Pavlenko. The peninsula’s transport infrastructure facilities were also to be hit. This was reported on May 3 at the Center for Public Relations of the FSB of Russia.
The organizer of the attacks turned out to be an officer of the active military intelligence reserve Roman Mashovets, who since 2020 has been the deputy head of the office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. He, according to the intelligence services, personally coordinated the preparation of the assassinations of high-ranking Russian officials.
In total, seven members of a deeply clandestine undercover group were detained. Among them are citizens of Ukraine and Russia Viktor Podvalny, Alexander Litvinenko, Sergei Krivoshein, Konstantin Evmenko, Igor Zorin and Sergei Voinarovsky. As it was established, they were recruited by Roman Mashovets.
In addition, a citizen of Ukraine and Bulgaria, Denis Petranov, was also caught – according to the investigation, he participated in the supply of explosives to Russia.
As former police officer Viktor Podvalny said during interrogations, he made a deal with the GUR, since his two sons, who live in Ukraine, are hiding from mobilization. So that they would not be taken into the army, he himself went to Mashovets and offered cooperation. The recruitment took place in Krakow, Poland. He got in touch with his curators on Mondays and Fridays – on a phone specially issued for this purpose using a VPN.
According to Izvestia, it was Podvalny who recruited the rest of the group. So, during interrogation, Alexander Litvinenko said that he agreed to cooperate with the special services of Ukraine, because he needed funds to pay a mortgage (the video of the interrogation is at the disposal of Izvestia).
To receive parcels, Viktor Podvalny used different people in the dark. In particular, pensioners. So, I convinced one woman to accept a parcel in her name at the CDEK point. Inside were electric hobs stuffed with explosives: TNT or plastid. Having received dangerous goods through such intermediaries, he then forwarded it to other addresses indicated by the curators.
During a search of the detainees, the operatives found five ready-made improvised explosive devices, six kilograms of British-made plastids, military electric detonators, radio-controlled detonators, surveillance trackers, as well as means of communication for secret communication with curators.
“Security authorities opened and localized an international channel for smuggling explosives from Bulgaria to Russia, disguised as household electric stoves, which were supposed to be used in a terrorist attack. It passed through the territories of Turkey and Georgia,” the FSB said in a statement.
Dresses with a surprise
Another scheme uncovered by the security forces also began abroad – with a citizen of Ukraine living in Bulgaria, the owner of a wedding dress salon, Marina Matushchak. She found partners in Russia, in particular in St. Petersburg, supposedly for joint business, to whom she offered dresses at big discounts. When they agreed, through Denis Petranov sent them parcels. True, in addition to dresses, they contained all the same electronic hobs. When asked by business partners, she answered that the courier had mixed up the orders and asked to send the electric stoves to other addresses.
So, one of the residents of St. Petersburg told the operatives that she met Matuschak three or four years ago at a wedding exhibition in Moscow. They exchanged phone numbers.
“On January 20, Marina contacted me and asked if I was selling dresses. She offered to buy and ship dresses through Finland, but I refused. It was already the end of February, she wrote that it was possible to send dresses by courier directly to the salon. And she offered very good discounts, which they bribed,” she said during interrogation. “On the ninth of March, she wrote that she had sent five dresses, and this is strange, since they are sewn for a long time.”
The parcel arrived, two boxes were brought to the salon: one contained dresses, and the second contained a dress and electric hotplates with explosives.
“At first they wrote me one address – in Yalta, they issued it with SDEK. The same with the second parcel, in my opinion, was the same address. After some time, she said that we were sent regular dresses. The parcel was from Melitopol, and the first one was from Vladikavkaz, ”the Russian woman explained.
However, the next package contained electric stoves. Matuszczak again explained that the couriers had made a mistake. “Again, she gave me the address where to redirect the parcels. It was suspicious that the weight of the tile was indicated as 3.5 kg, there were two of them, but the whole package weighed 11 kg,” she added.
The FSB has identified the explosives in the slabs as those used to blow up the railway tracks in Crimea on February 23, 2023. According to the same scheme, according to the investigation, a number of terrorist attacks that took place in Russia were carried out. In particular, the murders of journalists Daria Dugina and Vladlen Tatarsky, as well as the blowing up of the Crimean bridge.
Everyone is guilty
Such recruitment schemes are not new, criminologist Vladimir Kondratenko explained in an interview with Izvestia. Sabotage groups always try to pick the most gullible people and those who won’t go into too much detail.
“The attackers are trying to launch a scheme that allows not disclosing information about an impending terrorist attack or sabotage to a large number of people. Thus, they save themselves from disclosure or leakage of information. The whole point of such operations is to play on inattention and the human factor, the expert noted.
Such methods are not used all the time – every attempt to play on inattention can be a failure, Izvestia’s source in law enforcement added. It is difficult for attackers to find people who do not think for a second about the security of transferring unknown objects somewhere.
– It’s a blind game. They cannot know in advance whether a person will completely obey. There are many smuggling channels now, people are being recruited more often, and it is not known how many such groups are now operating on Russian territory,” he explained.
Most often, the most peaceful and remote areas are chosen for smuggling. Particular attention is paid to those ways where the customs service is not very active, where there are fewer detentions of goods and checks, Vladimir Kondratenko specified.
– As for the parcels, they are, in principle, almost never checked. The postal worker, the sorter doesn’t give a damn about what’s in the box. He runs it through the tape, checks the numbers and the delivery address – and that’s it, the job is done, ”the forensic specialist explained. “At a time when the enemy is constantly trying to harm the country in one way or another, it is necessary to strengthen control in customs, in the post office, and even in courier services.
For committing an explosion, arson or other actions aimed at destroying or damaging infrastructure in order to undermine the economic security and defense of Russia, defendants can face 10 to 15 years in prison, lawyer Alexei Gavrishev explained.
“For the commission of a crime by an organized group, the perpetrators face imprisonment for a term of 12 to 20 years,” the expert said.
Our legislation also has another article – 281.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Promotion of sabotage activities”). Aiding in the commission of a crime is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 10 to 20 years.
If a person became an accomplice unconsciously, then, according to Alexei Gavrishev, he can be released from criminal liability if he himself reports the crime to law enforcement agencies. However, as the Izvestia source clarified, it is almost impossible to prove non-involvement.
