Plot to Assassinate Sternenko and Bohdanov: SSU Eliminates GRU Hitman and Detains 10 Accomplices

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) thwarted an attempt by Russian intelligence agencies to carry out a series of contract killings of prominent figures in Ukraine.

During the special operation, security forces neutralized an agent-combat group of the Main Directorate of the General Staff (GRU) and eliminated a hitman who offered armed resistance, the SSU reported. In addition, law enforcement officers took more than 10 members of this hostile cell into custody.

The special operation was coordinated by First Deputy Head of the SSU Oleksandr Poklad. Units from military counterintelligence, the Main Investigation Directorate, special forces of the Central Special Operations Directorate “A,” and employees of regional directorates in the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Poltava regions participated in the operation.

According to the investigation, the suspects were planning attacks on public figures in various regions of the country. Among the occupiers’ potential victims were Serhii Sternenko, an advisor to the Minister of Defense and a volunteer, as well as Ilya Bohdanov, a volunteer with the Right Sector who has been fighting for Ukraine since 2014.

To prepare for the crimes, the group members tracked the residential addresses and daily travel routes of their targets. The perpetrators transmitted the collected information to the group’s leader  a resident agent of Russian military intelligence, the GRU.

The resident turned out to be a forensic expert from Poltava, who had previously been recruited by the General Staff. He compiled the intelligence data and sent “reports” directly to Russian supervisors for further planning of terrorist attacks.

Based on the information gathered, the occupiers transmitted the exact coordinates and movement schedules of the victims to the operative agent. The hitman, a native of the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast, underwent special combat training at a Russian military intelligence base.

It was established that he was to manufacture homemade explosive devices and plant them under vehicles or near the homes of potential targets. In the event of a failed detonation, supervisors from Russia ordered the agent to shoot the targets at point-blank range with a firearm.

During searches, an arsenal of firearms, ammunition, voice recorders, computer equipment, and surveillance cameras were seized from the detainees.

The success of the operation was facilitated by the infiltration of Ukrainian counterintelligence agents into enemy ranks. The security service managed to evacuate its own informants from the occupied territories to territory controlled by Ukraine, where they are currently safe.

SSU investigators have already informed the detainees of their suspicion under five articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including high treason and preparation for a terrorist act.

All members of the group have been placed under preventive detention without the right to bail. The suspects currently face life imprisonment with confiscation of property.