Military counter-intelligence of SSU neutralized sabotage-reconnaissance group of GRU in Odesa
23 September, 2024 Seized weapons. Source: SSU The Security Service of Ukraine neutralized a sabotage-reconnaissance group of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU), which was preparing a violent seizure of power in Odesa.
The SSU press service reported on this. It is reported that the SSU military counterintelligence had neutralized a Russian military intelligence task force in Odesa. As a result of the special operation, the head of the enemy cell and his accomplice were detained in the regional center.
More than 70 firearms with optical sights and ammunition, as well as body armor, helmets, ballistic goggles and other tactical equipment were seized from them.
Seized equipment and ammunition. Source: SSU
According to instructions of the Russian special services, at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the perpetrators were preparing for the seizure of government buildings in the Odesa region. In addition to storming administrative buildings, the suspects were supposed to attack the Ukrainian Defense Forces from the rear if the invaders approached the port city.
However, after failures at the front, this group was put on standby and activated only in the summer of 2024, when it received secret missions. The Security Service of Ukraine thwarted the enemy's intentions: it documented subversive activities and neutralized the group immediately after it was "activated" by the enemy. According to the case file, a 49-year-old resident of the temporarily occupied Crimea was a fixed agent (senior) of the Russian General Staff's infrastructure for sabotage.
Seized weapons.
Source: SSU
After the seizure of the peninsula, he moved to Odesa, where, at the beginning of the full-scale war, he began to form operational and combat units under the guise of several public organizations. For the general public, they dealt with issues of military history, ecology, and law, but in reality they created underground groups of snipers, intelligence, communications, operational support, and one of the main ones, an assault group. In the selection of potential candidates, perpetrators gave preference to citizens with special skills, combat experience, or narrowly specialized specialists.
If Odesa was captured, the group members would be promised "positions" in the local occupation administration of the Russian Federation.
Seized ammunition. Source: SSU
In total, offenders recruited more than two dozen people to the enemy cell, who were subordinate to their leader according to principles of military hierarchy. All of them are currently under investigation, and comprehensive measures are being taken to bring them to justice for crimes against Ukraine.
During the searches, in addition to weapons and tactical equipment, law enforcement officers seized instructions on subversion, cold steel weapons, including those with the logo of the Russian Special services, and computer equipment with evidence of crimes. Based on the collected evidence, SSU investigators served the detainees suspicion notices under the following 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 2 of 1, 3 Art.
260 (creation of paramilitary or armed formations not provided for by law).
The detainees are in custody. They face up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.
The operation was conducted jointly with the SSU Investigative Unit in the Odesa region under the supervision of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office.