Russian intelligence agency, Federal Security Service, FSB, said on Wednesday that it detained members of a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group in border Bryansk region. The group members had allegedly received training in Western countries and were carrying US- and Czech-made weapons and explosives.
In a statement, the FSB said three members of the group were killed while putting up resistance during a security operation in Navlinskiy district of the region, and three other members were captured. Video footage aired on state-run news agencies showed three group members lying on the ground in a wooded area. There were also seven rifles with two dozen magazines and a dozen grenades captured during the operation. The FSB said in the statement that it seized US-made assault rifles, Czech explosives and a “large number” of NATO-standard grenades and ammunition.
The video footage then proceeded to show the interrogation of the captured Russian soldiers who identify themselves as a unit connected to Ukraine’s Special Operations forces. One of the captured men said he had received training in Norway and was tasked to carry out reconnaissance on strategic facilities in Russia. Another detainee, who identified himself as the group’s commander, claimed that the unit had been trained by British, Canadian and other European instructors.
Yet another suspect said the Main Directorate of Ukraine’s Intelligence Agency, known as HUR, had deployed the group in Russia’s Bryansk region earlier in August “to carry out a series of terrorist acts at key Russian transportation sites.” The man went on claiming that the Ukrainian intelligence was behind the explosion in Bryansk bridge in May that killed seven people, as well as train derailment in Belgorod region last September.
It should be noted that Russia’s Bryansk and other border regions had been the venue of increased drone, missile attacks, shelling and sabotage attacks.
