Terrorist attack in Dnipro on 14 December: couple who made explosives detained

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and the National Police have detained two more suspects involved in the terrorist attack in Dnipro on 14 December 2024.

Source: National Police, SSU, Prosecutor General's Office

Quote from the National Police: "After the detention of a 37-year-old man suspected of committing a terrorist attack in the central district of the city, law enforcement officers identified his accomplices – a husband and wife. Russian agents involved in the terrorist act were detained."

Details: A terrorist recruited by Russian special services detonated explosives near the administrative building of a local territorial recruitment centre on 14 December 2024.

One person was killed and four people were injured, including two police officers.

Within hours of the attack, law enforcement officers detained 37-year-old local resident Ruben Voskanyan, who is suspected of carrying out the attack.

The SSU reports that two Russian agents who worked independently of the main perpetrator and were tasked with manufacturing an improvised explosive device (IED) have been taken into custody.

The suspects are a 33-year-old deserter who left a Ukrainian military unit without permission and was hiding in Dnipro with his 25-year-old wife.

While seeking "easy" money in thematic Telegram channels, they were discovered by Russian special services, who subsequently remotely recruited the couple, the SSU officials state. 

According to the Russian instructions, they made explosives, then hid them in a package and put them in a predetermined hiding place.

After that, the suspects remotely watched the perpetrator take the IED from the hiding place and reported it to their Russian supervisor via messenger.

To avoid arousing suspicion, the defendants took their 3-year-old child with them.

After the attack, the couple of Russian agents moved to another rented apartment. There they tried to "cover their tracks" and "lie low".

Law enforcement officers detained both offenders at their new address. During the search, the law enforcement seized mobile phones and clothes with evidence of the crimes, as well as Russian instructions for making IEDs.

Both detainees were served a notice of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

Parts 2, 3 of Art. 258 (terrorist act committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, resulting in the death of a person);

Part 1 of Art. 14 (preparation for a crime).

They are currently in custody.

The investigation is ongoing.

Background:

• On 14 December, an explosion rang out in the centre of Dnipro, resulting in one person killed and four more injured.
• Serhii Lysak, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, said that an explosion in Dnipro was a terrorist attack.
• One of the suspects has been detained in hot pursuit.

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