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Russia Says Apprehends Ukrainian 'Saboteur Group' In Crimea


An FSB video allegedly shows a Ukrainian saboteur detained by the Russian Federal Security Service in Crimea in August.
An FSB video allegedly shows a Ukrainian saboteur detained by the Russian Federal Security Service in Crimea in August.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) says it has apprehended three suspected members of a Ukrainian "saboteur group" in Russian-annexed Crimea.

In a statement on November 10, the FSB said it "detained members of a sabotage-terrorist group from the main intelligence directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry" in the city of Sevastopol on November 9.

The FSB said the group "planned to carry out acts of sabotage on objects of military and public infrastructure," and had in their possession "powerful explosive devices, weapons, ammunition" and communication equipment.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry rejected the FSB's claims, calling it "another fabrication of the Russian secret services aimed to justify its own repressive measures against local residents and discredit Ukraine on the international arena."

Earlier in August, Moscow said it thwarted an incursion into the Russian-controlled Crimean Peninsula by Ukrainian saboteurs and accused Kyiv of plotting "terror" in Crimea.

Kyiv rejected the charges as "cynical" and deployed troops near Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, on high alert.

Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax

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