On the eve of May 9, the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB) detained two Ukrainians, after an attempt by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine to commit sabotage at two nuclear power plants in the northwestern regions of Russia, said Thursday FSB, according to TASS.
Attempted terrorist attack on nuclear power plants
“The FSB thwarted a terrorist attack on nuclear facilities planned by Ukrainian special services.
On the eve of the 78th anniversary of Victory in the Great War for the Defense of the Motherland, a sabotage group of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine tried to blow up more than 30 supports for high-voltage power lines at nuclear power plants Leningradskaya and Kalininskaya (in the Leningrad and Tver regions) which, according to the concept of the Ukrainian secret services, would have caused a shutdown of nuclear reactors, would have disrupted the normal operation of nuclear power plants and would have caused major economic and reputational damage to the Russian Federation,” he stated the FSB.
The two wanted to blow up supports for power lines
However, the terrorists managed to blow up one support and detonate four others at the Leningradskaya nuclear power plant and placed improvised explosive devices under seven supports for high-voltage power lines at the Kalininskaya nuclear power plant, the Federal Security Service added.
According to the FSB, two Ukrainian members of the group, born in 1978 and 1974, were detained. They were recruited in September last year and trained in camps in Ukraine’s Kiev and Nikolaiev regions. A third Ukrainian citizen, born in 1963, who currently lives in Belgium, has been put on the wanted list, the FSB said.
“Two Russian accomplices were also identified and detained, who helped the terrorists by providing them with communication devices and vehicles with false registration numbers,” the FSB reported.
A criminal case was opened against the saboteurs. The detained persons are now in custody. They make confessions about cooperation with the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.