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Ukraine detains Belarusian spy suspected of plotting attack in Kyiv: reports

10.02.2022 14:30
Ukraine’s security services on Thursday announced they had detained a man who had been recruited by Belarus to carry out an attack in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
The Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
The Ukrainian capital Kyiv.Photo: Pixabay

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement that the individual in question was a resident of Kyiv and had been recruited by one of the Belarusian state agencies, Poland's PAP news agency reported.

According to the SBU, the man was planning an attack in the Ukrainian capital. He had bought a means of transport, flammable substances and pyrotechnic material for the purpose, security officials said. 

The suspect was arrested when attempting to set fire to a car outside the premises of a Kyiv-based nongovernmental organisation.

The SBU said he had also committed acts of intimidation against media workers and foreign nationals, such as writing threatening and provocative slogans on buildings in Kyiv and organising false bomb scares.

The man was also gathering information on Ukrainian military officials, the Security Service of Ukraine added.

According to the SBU, the agent had been involved in organising rallies during which participants engaged in “destructive canvassing” outside foreign diplomatic establishments.

Polish embassy in Kyiv

One of the photos accompanying the statement on the SBU’s website shows a group of people standing outside the perimeter fence of the Polish embassy in Kyiv and holding placards with Polish-language slogans, including “Poland does not count refugees as human beings,” the PAP news agency reported.

“Preliminary data suggest that the actions of the hostile agent were aimed at destabilising the internal political situation in Ukraine and discrediting our country in the eyes of European Union countries and the citizens of Belarus,” the SBU statement said.

It added that the man had been recruited on the instant-messaging app Telegram and was being remunerated for his activity from abroad via his bank card.

(pm/gs)

Source: PAPdziennik.pl