Two Russian contract soldiers fled the front and wanted to make their way to Kyiv - SBU detained them
Kyiv • UNN
In Donetsk region, two Russian contract soldiers were detained after fleeing the front, changing into civilian clothes, and hitchhiking to Kyiv. One of them was charged with high treason and collaborationism.
In Ukraine, two Russian militants who fled the front and tried to reach Kyiv disguised as civilians were detained. The SBU reported this on October 28, UNN writes.
The counterintelligence unit of the Security Service detained two contract soldiers of the 291st Motorized Rifle Regiment of Russia’s Southern Military District in the frontline area of Donetsk region. Both were dressed in civilian clothes and were traveling toward Kyiv in a car they had stopped by hitchhiking. SBU officers detained them at a checkpoint upon entry into Dnipropetrovsk region
According to the intelligence service, "an identification tag belonging to a Russian army serviceman was found around the neck of one of the suspects." "According to available information, the racists hoped to reach the capital of our country, where one of them has relatives, and "lie low,"" the statement said.
The investigation established that "one of the detainees was a two-time convicted murderer from the temporarily occupied city of Dovzhansk in Luhansk region, who has been fighting on the enemy’s side against the Defense Forces since 2016." "After the outbreak of the full-scale war, the repeat offender took part in battles near Bakhmut as an assistant operator of an anti-tank missile system," the intelligence service stated.
"Another suspect is a Russian citizen who signed a contract with the defense ministry of the aggressor state while serving a prison sentence for murder," the SBU noted.
According to the case materials, "recently both militants were sent to assault the positions of Ukrainian troops in the Kramatorsk sector, where they subsequently fled the line of contact and entered a settlement in the "gray" zone." "There, they changed into civilian clothes found in an abandoned house, buried their uniforms and the Russian army’s issued firearms in the house, and set off on foot toward the district center. On the way to the city, they stopped a car whose owner agreed to give the suspects a ride to Dnipro, from where they planned to travel to Kyiv," the SBU explained.
But their plan failed—the two perpetrators were detained in the area of the administrative border of the frontline region.
Investigators from the Security Service notified the enemy accomplice from Luhansk region that he was suspected of two offenses under the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Parts 1 and 2 of Article 111 (high treason committed under martial law); Part 7 of Article 111-1 (collaboration activities).
The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the crime. The perpetrator is being held in custody without the right to bail. He faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property. His accomplice—a Russian citizen—is currently being held as a prisoner of war, the SBU reported.