Larisa Kozovaya11:22, 30.01.25

The perpetrators were detained while preparing a terrorist attack near one of the district police departments.

Four men have been detained in Odessa who, on orders from Russian special services , committed the murder of a volunteer entrepreneur by detonating homemade explosives near his home.

As reported by the press service of the Odessa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the crime occurred on January 20 at about 22:40 near a private house in the Peresyp district of Odessa. As a result of the terrorist attack, the 54-year-old owner of the house, a local entrepreneur who was engaged in volunteer work, died.

“The terrorist attack was carried out by four Odessans who were recruited by Russian special services and acted in the interests of the aggressor state. For monetary compensation, they agreed to the offer to make explosives and detonate them in a designated place. They were promised $2,500 for committing the terrorist attack,” the prosecutor’s office said.

It is noted that one of the suspects made an explosive device from improvised components. A representative of the Russian special services supervised the creation process and provided detailed instructions online. Three others took the explosives and planted them near the fence of the victim’s house, next to a parked car. To record the terrorist attack, the perpetrators installed a mobile phone opposite the house in video broadcast mode.

According to law enforcement, the attackers set fire to the car to force the volunteer to come to it. The man went outside to put out the fire, but did not have time to do anything, as he died on the spot as a result of the detonation of the explosive device.

“The agents then called the customer, who was watching the crime being committed in real time, and he confirmed that the task had been completed, for which he transferred $1,000, which they divided between themselves,” the report says.

They were exposed and detained the day after the crime, which prevented further terrorist attacks, the prosecutor’s office reported.

All four perpetrators were notified of suspicion of committing a terrorist act that resulted in the death of a person (Part 3 of Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). They were sentenced to pretrial detention without the right to post bail. The men face a sentence of 15 years of imprisonment or life imprisonment.

The regional SBU department reported that they detained the suspects when they were preparing an explosion near one of the regional police departments.

“The terrorists were planning to set fire to several service vehicles and then, when the police arrived at the scene of the fire, remotely detonate a homemade explosive device,” the department clarified.

As the investigation established, in order to implement this plan, the defendants settled in a hostel near the facility, purchased four canisters of gasoline for arson, and kept explosives disguised as a fire extinguisher in a previously prepared hiding place.

The SBU and National Police officers detained the perpetrators at the stage of preparation for this terrorist attack, and they were finally tracked down during the investigation into the murder of the volunteer.

According to the investigation, the perpetrators were three drug addicts aged 23 to 45, as well as their 46-year-old accomplice, who had previously served time for theft and robbery. The repeat offender acted separately from the rest of the group and was responsible for making the explosives and planting them in hiding places.

(c)UNIAN 2025