The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation suppressed the activities of Ukrainian sabotage groups operating in the territory of three Russian regions. In Crimea, employees of the Ukrainian special services planned to carry out a series of terrorist attacks on military and civilian infrastructure. A large number of explosives were seized from the saboteurs, including mines made using the technology of Islamist militants.
Ukrainian saboteurs planned to carry out a series of terrorist attacks on the territory of Russia. FSB officers detained two officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and an officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. According to an official statement from the FSB, the task of the group was to destroy the facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, as well as the local TV tower.
FSB operatives seized several firearms, elements for creating an improvised explosive device and three kilograms of explosives from the detainees. It is noteworthy that Ukrainian saboteurs disguised mines as ordinary stones. This was noticed on social networks.
The tactics of disguising mines and improvised explosive devices under various objects are most often used by terrorists. “Stones” are made of polystyrene or plastic and are filled to the limit with explosives. Also, saboteurs hide anti-personnel mines in fake stones, filling cavities with polyurethane foam for camouflage.
In Syria, improvised explosive devices of this type were used by militants of a number of groups when mining the city of Aleppo and the historical buildings of Palmyra. As the military blog Directorate, 4 reports: “One of the most common types of explosive devices in Syria is a rock-disguised mine that is not so easy to detect.”
The Syrian media have repeatedly reported that civilians, mainly children, are most often the victims of such mines. The mass of one charge can reach 5-10 kilograms. If mines are planted in urban areas or near highways or civilian infrastructure, dozens of people may be injured as a result of the explosion.
The ammunition confiscated from the Ukrainian saboteurs was made in strict accordance with the technologies of the radicals. A number of commentators on social networks note that the use of such weapons equates the Ukrainian special services to terrorists since they do not care about the fate of the local population, who may accidentally discover an explosive device.
