Prosecutors send case of railroad saboteurs to court

Prosecutors of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office have sent to court an indictment against two members of an organized group on the fact of committing sabotage under martial law.

According to the prosecutor's office, investigators found that a 44-year-old local resident had established contact with a Russian Federal Security Service officer via messenger, who offered him a monetary reward to set fire to railway facilities in order to destabilize train traffic in Odesa and the region. Seeking to earn extra money, the man agreed to cooperate and involved two of his acquaintances, who were assigned clearly defined roles in future crimes.

To carry out the arsons, the criminals used flammable mixtures that were prepared in advance according to the instructions of the Russian special service. The video recording of the arson and burning of the object was sent to the curator to receive a payment.

The group's criminal activity lasted several weeks, during which they set fire to the equipment of three relay cabins on the railroad tracks in Odesa, causing significant damage to the region's transportation infrastructure.

For each completed task, they received UAH 9,000, which was transferred via a crypto wallet and distributed among the group members.

Law enforcement detained the saboteurs in March this year. During searches at their residence, a cell phone with evidence of correspondence with the aggressor was seized. Two of the accused are currently in custody. The materials concerning the third member of the organized group were separated into a separate proceeding, and he was put on the wanted list.

Meanwhile, the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police reported the detention of three more accomplices of the federal security service who were preparing a sabotage at Ukrzaliznytsia facilities in Odesa and Kharkiv regions.

Earlier, three residents of Odesa were also suspected of collaborating with Russian special services, who ordered arson attacks on military vehicles and Ukrzaliznytsia equipment. According to the case file, a 29-year-old resident of Odesa got in touch with a representative of the aggressor state via one of the messengers. He was offered money for committing sabotage in the city. The man agreed and involved two of his friends in the case.

Кирило Бойко