SBU says it detained 3 suspected Russian agents over deadly Kyiv bombing that killed National Guard serviceman
Ukraine’s Security Service said Friday that it detained three men suspected of planting two homemade bombs that killed a National Guard serviceman and wounded four other people in Kyiv a day earlier.
The Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, said the suspects were detained within six hours of the Dec. 11 blasts in the Darnytskyi district.
The SBU said the men acted on instructions from Russian security services and were recruited through Telegram channels offering “easy money.”
Investigators said the suspects bought components for improvised explosive devices at several stores, built the bombs, and placed them at locations provided by a handler. The suspects then set up mobile phones near the scene to stream video online to the handler and coordinate the explosions, according to the SBU.
The first device exploded in an industrial area as two National Guard personnel approached, killing one and injuring the other. A security guard nearby was also injured, the SBU said.
A second device detonated after law enforcement officers arrived at the scene, injuring two police officers, the agency said.
The suspects are Ukrainian citizens ages 23, 25, and 27 from the Odesa and Donetsk oblasts, the SBU said, adding that the men had been working as laborers on construction sites in Kyiv.
The SBU said the men are expected to be served with notices of suspicion under Ukraine’s criminal code article covering terrorist acts resulting in death.
In a similar incident last year, Ukrainian broadcaster Suspline reported that a serviceman on guard duty in Kyiv’s Dniprovskyi district was killed after a remotely detonated explosive device hidden in a package went off when he noticed it near a vehicle.
In another recent case, the SBU said it detained two 17-year-olds recruited by Russia who carried out a bombing in Zhytomyr on Aug. 5, killing one man and seriously injuring another. Investigators said the pair had assembled the device themselves and filled it with screws to maximize casualties before remotely detonating it via mobile phone on orders from a Russian handler. Both face possible life sentences if convicted, the SBU said.
Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly warned that Russian security services use Telegram and other messaging platforms to recruit Ukrainians for sabotage and arson. In December 2024, the SBU launched an official Telegram chatbot for reporting recruitment attempts, including offers to set fire to military vehicles or to carry out other attacks.
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