A gang of teenagers carried out a series of explosions in the DPR on instructions from the SBU
The Ministry of State Security of the DPR detained a group of minor residents of the republic who, over the course of a year, blew up military and civilian vehicles in Yasinovataya at the request of the Ukrainian special services. This was reported by the press secretary of the DPR Ministry of State Security, Maria Petrova.
The criminal group included children born in 1998 to 2001.
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“In May 2015, an employee of the Ukrainian special service Igor Retsko..., working under the legend of a military man, suggested that the minor Bogdan Kovalchuk create a group of his friends and acquaintances to make money by collecting debts from businessmen in the city of Yasinovataya... For the period from May 2015 to June “In 2016, a group of minors consisting of Belavin, Kovalchuk, Pazushko, Khmelenko, Solodovnikov, Mironov and Koval committed bombings of civilian cars, military communications, a multi-purpose light armored transporter, an official car of the Yasinovatsky city department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other civilian and military facilities,” noted Petrova.
The leader of the group, 17-year-old Bogdan Kovalchuk, assures that a SBU representative forced him to carry out the bombings through blackmail and threats:
“One day, when we were escorting meat and household appliances, a military vehicle with several people drove up to me. One of the military men approached me and introduced himself as “Almaz.” He said to me, “Do you want to avoid responsibility because of this?” I said, “yes, I want to.” He offered me a job in the amount of five thousand hryvnia to blow up two cars of businessmen, because they owed him a sum of money. I agreed, I didn’t want to be responsible on that side. He gave me explosives and explained how to use them.
When we blew up one car, Almaz told me to bring evidence. I took a photo, and when I showed it to him, he told me “okay, it worked” and paid five thousand hryvnia. Then he gave me a second explosive and told me to blow up a car in the city of Yasinovataya. We blew up the second car. We also took photographs, brought evidence, and he paid us money.
Then, after a while, when I arrived in Ukraine, he told me, “Well done, you’re ready,” and offered me another job - blowing up equipment or something else. I was scared and didn’t want to do it. But he told me, “If you don’t do this, you will bear responsibility here and there.” And he intimidated me that he would deal with my family.”