(Reuters) – Ukrainian security officers have apprehended two individuals who are suspected of working on behalf of Russia in an attempt to sabotage a railway line crucial for supplying weapons to Kyiv’s war effort in the east, as announced by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on Tuesday.
The individuals, who are only identified as residents of the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions, were caught while trying to detonate an explosive device that they had planted by the railway line in the central Poltava region. They had intended to set off the device remotely but were intercepted by SBU officers.
There has been no immediate response from Russia regarding the incident. According to the SBU, the goal of the arrested individuals was to disrupt the logistical routes used for delivering weapons, ammunition, and fuel to the Ukrainian armed forces.
The SBU also mentioned that they seized the detainees’ phones and discovered that their handler was an officer from Russia’s main domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB). The bomb that was planned to be exploded during Russian airstrikes on critical infrastructure from March 21-22.
Russia has intensified its attacks in recent days, increasing the pressure on Ukraine more than two years after the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; editing by Angus MacSwan)
