SBU with FBI assistance detained administrator of channel with calls for terrorist attacks

The Security Service of Ukraine, with the assistance of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, detained in Kyiv the founder and administrator of a Telegram channel that, according to the investigation, called on subscribers to commit terrorist attacks against Ukrainian and foreign law enforcement officers. The suspect is in custody, and the channel itself has been blocked.

This was reported on October 6 by the Security Service of Ukraine.

The operation was conducted with the assistance of the U.S. FBI and under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General.

According to the investigation, the man independently created a Telegram channel through which he spread calls for attacks on law enforcement officers in Ukraine and partner countries. To do this, as the SBU claims, he proposed using improvised explosive devices.

In addition to calls for violence, the suspect posted video materials related to the manufacture of explosives for his audience. The SBU stated that the man demonstrated the relevant processes directly from his apartment.

The investigation established that a laboratory was set up in the premises. There, the suspect, according to the intelligence service, worked with chemical substances that could be used to create improvised explosive devices. However, the law enforcement officers do not disclose the detailed technical information from the materials he published in full.

SBU officers detained the man at his place of residence. During the search, law enforcement officers found explosives and laboratory equipment that, according to the investigation, was used to produce them.

They also seized computer equipment on which investigators found materials related to the creation and administration of the Telegram channel, anti-personnel mines, ammunition, and other equipment.

SBU investigators notified the detainee of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He is charged with Part 2 of Article 258-2 – public calls for committing a terrorist act, as well as Part 1 of Article 263 – illegal handling of weapons, ammunition, or explosives.

The suspect is in custody. The SBU did not specify the exact possible prison term in its statement, noting that he faces imprisonment.

The investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement officers are establishing all the circumstances of the channel's activities and are also checking for the presence of possible accomplices of the detainee.

Another result of the operation was the blocking of the Telegram resource through which, according to the SBU, calls for terrorist attacks and prohibited materials were distributed.

The SBU did not disclose the suspect's name, the number of channel subscribers, or the details of the FBI's participation in the operation. The published statement also does not say whether the calls posted in the channel led to specific terrorist attacks committed. At this stage, it is a matter of suspicion, and the guilt of the person involved must be established by a court.