The Security Service of Ukraine successfully prevented the assassination of the commander of the 108th Separate Battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, known as the "Da Vinci Wolves", Serhiy Filimonov. According to investigative materials, the attempt on his life was orchestrated by the FSB, which recruited a local resident from Dnipropetrovsk under the guise of working for the SBU.
This tactic of operating "under a false flag" has become a new strategy for Russian intelligence services. During recruitment conversations, FSB agents pose as SBU employees and assign tasks to agents supposedly in the interest of Ukraine. A participant in the ATO from Kamianske fell for this "hook", believing he was tasked with eliminating a spotter working for Russia rather than a Ukrainian military commander.
Investigators established that a representative of the Russian security service contacted the man through a social network, claiming to be an SBU employee. During the conversation, she alleged that an online store where the individual previously ordered medical supplies was supposedly financing Russian troops. This fabricated information was used to accuse the Ukrainian of "high treason" and to inform him of an alleged criminal case opened against him.
To increase psychological pressure, FSB representatives sent the man a fake summons for questioning by the SBU. He was then offered a supposed "cooperation" with the agency in exchange for dropping the criminal case. For this, he was sent an application form for joining the SBU and instructed to come to Kyiv.
The FSB manipulators exploited the patriotic beliefs of the Ukrainian, who genuinely thought he was helping his country's security service fight the enemy. In correspondence with his handler, the man expressed his willingness to eliminate occupiers, even at the cost of his own life.
Upon arriving in Kyiv, the recruit was tasked with renting an apartment in a residential complex where, according to the FSB, the Ukrainian military commander lived, who was to be eliminated, and to begin surveillance on Serhiy Filimonov's vehicle. The FSB agent portrayed the Ukrainian military officer as a "traitor" supposedly striking at Kyiv. Following one of the massive missile strikes on the capital, the handler convinced the recruit that the "object" he was surveilling was responsible for the attacks. The recruit regularly sent photo reports to his handler about visual observations, including pictures from the yard and descriptions of the military's movements. Later, the FSB handler provided the recruit with coordinates of a weapons cache on the outskirts of Kyiv, where an automatic weapon was hidden. After obtaining a Kalashnikov, the man continued his surveillance and subsequently received instructions to eliminate the Ukrainian soldier.
SBU operatives detained the recruit as he was stepping out onto the street with the loaded weapon. During a search, a mobile phone was seized, from which he had been communicating with the FSB handler. Under the procedural leadership of the Office of the Prosecutor General, the detained individual was charged under Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – illegal possession of weapons and ammunition.
The SBU emphasizes! Representatives of the Security Service do not hire people by phone, do not offer to perform illegal actions, and do not set questionable tasks. The SBU operates strictly within the framework of current Ukrainian legislation.
