Kiev Denies that Organizer of Terrorist Attacks Prevented in Crimea Is Servceman of Ukrainian Intelligence

© Vitaly Nevar/TASS, archive

The Kiev authorities are denying that the Ukrainian group of saboteurs attempted to infiltrate the territory of the Russian Republic of Crimea and carry out a terrorist attack there.

In an interview with Ukrainian Office of RFE/RL, Ukrainian military spokesman Vladislav Seleznev called these reports “provocation.”

“The events started to develop on early August 7 and social networks in occupied Crimea began circulating the allegations that some sabotage group had infiltrated Crimea. We reacted immediately by informing that Ukrainian servicemen are located at certain regions and do their tasks according to the plan. Any claims like these are a provocation.”

Yuriy Tandit, an adviser to the head of Ukraine’s security agency, allso denied the facts.

“We are refuting the information from the FSB. Ukraine is not trying to regain Crimea by force.”

We remind, the same informational approach is applied by Kiev in the Donbass conflict where, according to Ukrainian officials and media outlets, the settmelemts controlled by the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Repubclis are always shelled by some “unknown forces” or “pro-Russian rebels.”

The Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation has detained one of the organizers of the terrorist attacks, prevented in Crimea, the RIA Krym news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the FSB. Reportedly, this person is an officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR MOU). He is currently testifying.

FSB’s press release:

The follow-on measures on the territory of the Republic of Crimea eliminated a network of agents operated by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Ukrainian and Russian citizens, engaged in the preparation of terrorist attacks, were arrested, and are now giving evidence. One of the organizers is Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich Panov, born 1977, an inhabitant of the Zaporozhye Region of Ukraine, an operative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukrainian MOD, who has also been arrested and is giving evidence.

Terrorist attacks in Crimea were prevented by the FSB over the weekend. According to the security service, the attacks were planned by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s intelligence agency. The FSB announced that the HUR MOU was preparing to target the Russian peninsula’s critical infrastructure.

During a special operation over the weekend, the FSB discovered a group of infiltrators near the town of Armyansk in northern Crimea near the Ukrainian border. FSB officers and the terrorists exchanged fire as the terrorists were being apprehended. One FSB officer was killed. The FSB discovered 20 home-made explosive devices equivalent to more than 40 kilos of TNT, ammunition, shells, and other weapons used by the Ukrainian Army’s Special Forces.