Ten people arrested in Moldova and Ukraine for plotting to kill prominent Ukrainians on Russia's orders
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has reported details of a joint operation with Moldovan partners to expose an organised group that was plotting to carry out contract killings of well-known Ukrainian citizens and foreign nationals.
According to the Office of Prosecutor General, atotal of 10 people have currently been detained in this case: seven in Ukraine and three in Moldova, including the organiser.
"The members of the criminal group have been served with a notice of suspicion. A request is being prepared for the court to have them remanded in custody as a pre-trial restriction," the statement said.
The investigation found that members of the network had acted under the supervision of the Russian secret services. They collected information about the movements, places of residence and lifestyles of potential victims in order to organise their subsequent physical elimination for financial reward.
"The members of the organised group assigned their roles clearly, planned the methods of each murder, prepared the instruments used in the crimes and thought out escape routes. The Russian side promised the assassins up to US$100,000 for each murder – the amount depended on prominence and influence of the potential victim," the Office of the Prosecutor General said.
Law enforcement officers have established that the group had plotted to kill at least five public figures. One of the potential victims was Andrii Yusov, a strategic communications representative at Defence Intelligence of Ukraine and Deputy Head of Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Law enforcement officers said that if successfully carried out, these crimes could have caused a significant public outcry and been used by Russia to destabilise the security situation in Ukraine.
Over 20 searches were carried out simultaneously in several oblasts of Ukraine as part of a large-scale special operation. Weapons, ammunition, explosives, mobile phones and computer equipment were seized and evidence of contact with handlers was recorded.
Urgent investigative actions were also carried out in Moldova by a joint international investigative team created for this case.
Moldovan law enforcement officers detained the organiser of this network and two accomplices. Petitions to the court for their arrest are currently being prepared. A pre-trial investigation is ongoing.
On 19 February, Moldovan law enforcement reported that Moldovan police and Ukrainian law enforcement bodies as part of a joint investigative team were conducting a criminal investigation into a plot to assassinate several public figures in Ukraine.
A citizen of Hrubieszów in Poland was earlier convicted and sentenced to three and a half years in prison for collaborating with Russian intelligence.
His tasks included collecting data on security at Rzeszów-Jasionka airport, which is a key logistics hub for supporting Ukraine and for international travel by Ukrainians during the war. The intelligence gathered might have been intended to facilitate an assassination attempt on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.