The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the National Police have detained the perpetrator of the brutal triple terrorist attack in Lviv on the night of February 22. acting on clear instructions from Russian special services, the suspect turned a routine police call into a deadly trap livestreamed to the enemy.
As reported by Hvylya, the details were disclosed at a joint briefing by SBU Deputy Head Ivan Rudnytskyi and Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.
According to the investigation, the suspect is a 33-year-old native of the Rivne region. Seeking "easy money" via Telegram channels, she was recruited by Russian representatives. To execute the mission, she traveled to Lviv, rented an apartment, and manufactured three improvised explosive devices using items purchased at hardware stores.
The scheme was particularly cynical. The agent planted explosives near a grocery store and then called the police emergency line (102) herself to report a fake burglary. This ruse was designed to lure law enforcement officers into the kill zone.
She set up a smartphone in an apartment overlooking the crime scene to livestream the events to her Russian handlers. It was the handlers who remotely detonated the bombs after observing the arrival of police crews through the camera feed.
"The SBU has been investigating this terrorist attack from the very first minutes. Together with the National Police, we detained the perpetrator in hot pursuit. After the explosions, she planned to flee Ukraine, but the SBU and National Police thwarted these plans. The suspect was detained within 10 hours of the attack," stated Ivan Rudnytskyi.
The first explosion occurred as patrol officers arrived on the scene. When two additional police crews and National Guardsmen arrived to provide assistance, the enemy activated the second and third devices. The attack claimed the life of a policewoman and left 25 others injured, including a minor.
The suspect was apprehended at the railway station in Sambir while attempting to escape. Evidence of her cooperation with the Russian Federation was seized during the arrest.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko emphasized the dangers of such recruitment efforts:
"Russia uses our citizens, and most often those who succumb to recruitment do not receive money—instead, they face life imprisonment. In some cases, the Russians get rid of the executors, eliminating them right during the attempt to plant explosives."
The detainee has been charged with committing a terrorist act (Part 3, Art. 258) and illegal weapons handling (Art. 263). An investigation is ongoing to identify all individuals involved in the crime.