The military counter-intelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine and the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) neutralized the operative combat group of the military intelligence of the Russian Federation in Odesa, inform the SBU.
In the Telegram channel on Monday, the Ukrainian special service reported that the combat group of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation (GRU) was preparing a violent seizure of power in Odesa.
“As a result of a special operation in the regional center, the leader of the enemy cell and his right-hand man were detained. More than 70 firearms with optical sights and ammunition were seized from them, as well as body armor, helmets, ballistic glasses and other tactical equipment,” the report said.
The Security Service of Ukraine notes that, according to the instructions of the Russian special services, even at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the attackers were preparing to forcibly seize state institutions in the Odesa region.
“In addition to the storming of administrative buildings, the perpetrators were supposed to attack the Defense Forces from the rear if the occupiers approached the port city,” the agency clarifies.
According to the report, after the failures of the occupiers 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 file, the resident (senior) of the intelligence and combat group of the Russian GRU was a 49-year-old resident of the temporarily occupied Crimea, who moved to Odessa 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 these public organizations allegedly dealt with issues of military history, ecology, and jurisprudence, but in fact created underground groups of snipers, intelligence, communications, operational support, and one of the main ones – an assault group.
“In the event of the capture of Odessa, the members of the group were promised “positions” in the local occupation administration of the Russian Federation,” the report says.
The special service also informs that, in general, the perpetrators recruited more than two dozen people who were subordinate to their leader according to the principles of military hierarchy to the enemy cell.
All of them are under investigation, comprehensive measures are underway to bring them to justice for crimes against Ukraine.
During the searches, in addition to weapons and tactical equipment, instructions for subversive activities, cold weapons, in particular with the logo of the special services of the Russian Federation, and computer equipment with evidence of illegal activities were seized from the suspects.
On the basis of the collected evidence, SBU investigators notified the detainees of the suspicion under the articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 2 of Art. 28, Part 1 of Art. 109 (actions aimed at the violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or at the seizure of state power, committed by a group of persons based on a prior conspiracy), Part 1, Article 3. 260 (creation of paramilitary or armed formations not provided for by law).
The detainees are in custody.
