A Ukrainian court has convicted a man of treason for building homemade bombs intended for attacks in Zaporizhzhia, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said. Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, reportedly picked him out of Telegram channels where he was hunting for easy earnings. The devices were still meant to go into caches when officers took him.
Russia recruited him from a chat channel
SBU officers detained the man in March 2025. The investigation established that the assignment for Russia went to a local resident struggling with drug addiction. Russian services noticed him while he was looking for easy earnings in Telegram channels, and the offer of side work turned into an order to build weapons, the security agency said.
The SBU described what followed in its statement.
“In exchange for the promise of ‘quick’ side earnings, the agent began assembling improvised explosive devices, reinforcing them with metal nuts and bolts for greater destructive effect. For this, on the instructions of the Russians, he bought chemical components, construction materials, and other elements for producing bombs at home.”
Recruitment through job ads in messaging apps has run through case after case in Ukraine, including plots against soldiers in several cities.
Officers searching him turned up a canister of solvent, other chemical components, and shrapnel elements set aside for building the devices. Officers also seized the mobile phones he used to stay in touch with his Russian contact.
Two tasks: bombs in caches and leaflets
He was to hide the finished devices in caches inside Zaporizhzhia and on its outskirts, the SBU said. Then he was to send the coordinates to his handler in Russia. His handler also assigned him information work for Russia. He pasted provocative leaflets around the city, aimed at unsettling the internal situation across southern Ukraine, the SBU noted.
The court found him guilty under Part 2 of Article 111 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, which covers high treason committed under martial law. It sentenced him to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.
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