SBU neutralizes combat group of Russian military intelligence preparing for overthrow of power in Odesa
The military counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine and the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) have neutralized an operational combat group of Russian military intelligence in Odesa, the SBU reports.
On Monday, the Ukrainian special service reported on its Telegram channel that a combat group of the Main Directorate of the Russian General Staff (GRU) was preparing a violent seizure of power in Odessa.
"As a result of a special operation in the regional center, the leader of the enemy cell and his 'right hand' were detained. More than 70 units of firearms with optical sights and ammunition, as well as body armor, helmets, ballistic glasses and other tactical equipment were seized from them," the report says.
The SBU notes that, following instructions from the Russian special services, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the attackers were preparing to seize government institutions in Odesa region by force.
"In addition to storming administrative buildings, the defendants are to attack the Defense Forces from the rear if the occupiers were approaching the port city," the department clarified.
According to the report, after the occupiers' failures at the front, this operational combat group was put on standby and activated only in the summer of 2024, when it received secret tasks.
The security service documented the subversive activity and neutralized the group immediately after it was "activated" by the enemy.
According to the case materials, the resident (senior) of the agent-combat group of the Russian GRU was a 49-year-old resident of the temporarily occupied Crimea, who moved to Odesa after the capture of the peninsula. At the beginning of the full-scale war, he began to form operational combat units under the guise of several public organizations.
The SBU emphasizes that this public organization allegedly dealt with issues of military history, ecology and jurisprudence, but in reality, underground groups of snipers, intelligence, communications, operational support and one of the main ones - an assault group - were created.
"In the event of the capture of Odesa, the group members were promised 'positions' in the local occupation administration of the Russian Federation," the report notes.
The special service also reports that the defendants recruited more than two dozen people into the enemy cell, who reported to their leader according to the principles of military hierarchy.
All of them are under investigation, and comprehensive measures are ongoing to hold them accountable for crimes against Ukraine.
During the searches, in addition to weapons and tactical equipment, instructions on subversive activities, bladed weapons, including those with the logo of the Russian special services, and computer equipment with evidence of illegal activity were seized from the defendants.
Based on the evidence collected, SBU investigators informed the detainees of suspicion under the articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 109 (actions aimed at the violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or the seizure of state power, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons), Parts 1 and 3 of Article 260 (creation of paramilitary or armed formations not provided for by law).
The detainees are in custody.