FSB Detains Three Ukrainian Special Agents Who Planned to Blow Up Black Sea Fleet Radio Center Mast

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Three agents of the Ukrainian special services — a father and his son collecting data on strategic objects and a young man planning a terrorist attack — have been detained in Russia, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday.

The FSB noted that intelligence and sabotage activities of Ukrainian special services were suppressed in three Russian regions.

"Two agents of the Ukrainian Security Service [SSU] were detained: Zynovyy ... Koval, born in 1974, and his son Igor ... Koval, born in 1999, who arrived in Russia in order to collect information and take photographs and videos of strategically important life support enterprises and transport infrastructure facilities," the FSB said in a statement.

Short-barreled and automatic weapons were found in their car, as well as personal protective equipment, which were sent for examination, the statement read.

"The detainees confessed that they were recruited by an SSU employee ... who tasked them with collecting information about strategic objects for a reward of $10,000," the statement added.

The third detainee is an agent of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, Oleksandr Tsylyk.

Ukrainian special services agents planned to blow up a Black Sea Fleet radio centre mast and the Crimean television centre tower, FSB said.

"On the instructions of their leadership, they planned to blow up the tower of the Crimea radio and television broadcasting centre, a mobile gas turbine power plant, a warehouse for fuel and lubricants and a mast of the Black Sea Fleet radio centre," the FSB said in a statement.

One of the agents was arrested in July, and his guilt has been fully proven, the statement added.

The FSB has learned that a senior officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defenсe coordinated from Ukraine the training of and oversaw a sabotage group directed to the territory of Russia. In 2016, the Russian authorities detained in Crimea members of the sabotage and reconnaissance group, which consisted of four officers of the Main Intelligence Directorate.