Group of Russian Hitmen Planning Assassinations of Military Personnel Neutralized in Kyiv

In Kyiv, the Security Service of Ukraine neutralized a Russian intelligence and combat group that was planning the assassinations of Ukrainian military personnel and public figures.

The SSU reported the arrest of the enemy agents.

This is the result of a multi-stage special operation by the Security Service and the National Police in the capital.

The arrest took place while the hitmen were preparing to assassinate the commander of one of Kyiv’s volunteer units using firearms near his place of duty.

According to the investigation, the enemy’s targets also included commanders of units of the National Guard, the Defense Intelligence, and the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To eliminate them, the perpetrators planned to plant homemade explosive devices under their vehicles.

The SSU reported that the main operatives executed the order were a repeat offender recruited by the Russians—who had already been prosecuted for robbery—and his accomplice from Zaporizhzhia.

The GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate) operational-combat group also included the director of a private security firm, who provided the perpetrators with a vehicle to flee the scene of the planned terrorist attack.

“Another perpetrator was a law enforcement officer from the Dnipropetrovsk region who monitored departmental databases and was supposed to ‘report’ to Russian intelligence in the event of ‘confirmation’ of the military officer’s elimination,” the statement reads.

An employee of the 4th Directorate of the “Kubinka” Special Forces Center of Russia’s Military Intelligence Special Operations Forces coordinated the group’s activities. His identity has already been established.

To recruit members, he enlisted a resident of Kherson whom he had met during the temporary occupation of the city in 2022. After the regional center was liberated, she fled to the Russian Federation.

During searches of the detainees’ homes and workplaces, law enforcement officers seized weapons, SIM cards, and smartphones containing evidence of their work for Russian intelligence. The detained members of the group face sentences ranging from 10 years of imprisonment to life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The Security Service of Ukraine previously foiled an attempt by Russian special services to carry out a series of contract killings of prominent figures in Ukraine.