In Dnipro, a young man who last year threatened to carry out terrorist attacks in schools in the Czech Republic and Slovakia was detained through the joint efforts of Ukrainian, Czech, and Slovak special services. The illegal activities of the suspect were financed by Russians, UNN writes with reference to CTK.
Details
A joint investigative group has been formed in this case, and today, with the participation of law enforcement officers from the Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Slovakia, criminal proceedings are being conducted in Ukraine, where the suspect was detained. Given the stage of the criminal proceedings, it is currently impossible to provide any additional detailed information.
– summarized supervising state prosecutor Jiří Richter.
According to the Czech Criminal Code, anyone who threatens to commit a terrorist crime through the press, film, radio, television, a publicly accessible computer network, or other similar means is punishable by imprisonment for five to fifteen years.
Slovak police reported raids in various locations in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro to seize computer and telecommunications equipment. They also published a photo with an article that, among others, featured an employee of the Czech Police’s National Center for Combating Terrorism, Extremism, and Cybercrime (NCTEKK).
The participation of NCTEKK and BIS in the operational measures was confirmed by Czech counterintelligence, which speaks of a successful international operation.
Yesterday (Tuesday), a special group detained a young man in Ukraine suspected of sending last year’s threatening emails to hundreds of schools in the Czech Republic. According to preliminary information, the Czech Republic was not his only target, and he carried out similar actions in a number of European countries, the special service reported. The suspect carried out his criminal actions with Russian money.
Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský also mentioned that the suspect’s activities were aimed at a larger number of countries, and that a curator from Russia was likely behind his activities.
I am glad that our security forces participated in his detention, and that he cannot continue to scare our public.
– he said. Regarding further statements, he referred to the police and BIS.Reminder
At the beginning of the last academic year, hundreds of schools in the Czech Republic and Slovakia repeatedly received threatening emails. The author of the threats claimed that there were bombs in the school buildings. At the time, the police assessed the seriousness of the threat as very low and also asked the public not to spread the threats by sharing them on social media.
Slovak police also stated that they are investigating the case as a terrorist act, for which the perpetrator could face life imprisonment.
In its recently published annual report for last year, BIS stated that, according to the results of the investigation, the threats to schools were linked to the Russian-speaking environment.
In addition, reports of bomb attacks in the Czech Republic were accompanied by specific supporting information measures
– the report states.
At the same time, a disinformation campaign conducted by one of the Russian media outlets was mentioned.
Addition
Russian special services may use tactics of recruiting teenagers for sabotage in Lithuania, as they did in Ukraine. Teenagers are vulnerable, and scouts promise easy money.
A resident of Kharkiv received 10 years in prison for administering Kremlin Telegram channels. She spread anti-Ukrainian narratives and justified Russia’s aggression.