Saboteur from Izmail remains in jail for two more months

The court has extended the arrest of a saboteur from Izmail who was caught trying to blow up railroad tracks on the instructions of Russian special services. The man was detained by law enforcement before the explosives could go off.

This is evidenced by the decision of the Peresypskyi District Court of Odesa.

In Odesa, the court granted the prosecutor's request to extend the term of detention for a resident of Izmail suspected of attempted sabotage on the city's railroad tracks. He is charged under Articles 15(2), 28(2), 113(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, in early 2025, an unidentified Russian intelligence officer developed a plan for sabotage in Odesa and Odesa region. In July 2025, he contacted the suspect from Izmail via the Viber messenger with a proposal to commit explosions in the city for a monetary reward. The man agreed, entering into a criminal conspiracy, and received instructions on how to obtain an improvised explosive device from a special cache in Odesa.

On July 25, 2025, the suspect arrived in Odesa by taxi for the money sent by the Russian agent. He checked into an apartment, constantly maintained contact with the curator and received the exact location of the cache with explosives. According to the investigation, the Russian intelligence officer gave the man a clear instruction to leave an improvised explosive device on the railroad.

This bomb was equipped with a magnet and a cell phone that was supposed to work as a remote detonator. Following the instructions of the Russian agent in real time via audio communication in Viber, the suspect attached the explosive to the track on the 4th kilometer of the package No. 7 of the Zastava 1 - Odesa-Zakhidna stretch of the Odesa Railways regional branch of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC, near Zhytomyrska and Podilska streets.

The suspect left the explosive device on the track, but did not have time to complete the crime: the SBU detained the man. The court ruled to extend the suspect's detention in Odesa SIZO for 60 days - until January 16, 2026. Such actions are punishable by up to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

In October, in Odesa region, SBU counterintelligence officers jointly with the National Police detained eight people suspected of sabotage on the railroad. According to the investigation, they set fire to relay cabinets, disabled signaling equipment, and one of the suspects even tried to plant explosives under the railroad tracks.

Анна Бальчінос