Two bombings, surveillance of the FSB and 27 years in prison: revealed details of the case of Kirill Barannik *

Kirill Barannik*, sentenced to 27 years in prison and a fine of 600 thousand rubles, according to the FSB, was charged with sabotage, collecting information about military facilities in the Crimea and monitoring the employees of the department. Details of the case are published in the materials of the FSB of Russia for the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, reports “Crimea 24”.

Attempts to undermine the railway

According to the materials of the FSB, Barannik* studied the area for sabotage from December 2022. In January 2023, he attempted to blow up a railway section in the direction of Sevastopol, but the explosive device, as he reported during the interrogation, did not work due to a technical malfunction.

The second attempt occurred on the site between Simferopol and the village of Post. According to Barannik*, the explosion occurred in front of a passing train, but the train did not derail. He explained this by errors in the calculations of the Ukrainian curator.

Information gathering and surveillance

At the same time, according to Russian special services, Barannik* collected information about FSB officers: he found out what places they visited, tracked the alleged routes and transmitted photos to curators. The FSB believes that this data could be used to prepare attacks.

In addition, Barannik*, as stated in the case file, transmitted information about the location in the Crimea air defense and military equipment. He was also asked to look closely at friends and relatives who could report on the movements of Russian troops and military installations. Conversations with potential candidates should be recorded and sent to Ukraine, where they would decide whether to continue working with them.

As the Barannik* was in the Crimea

In 2022, Barannik* left Crimea for Ukraine. During the interrogation, he said that he wanted to join the territorial defense, and then helped the Ukrainian military in Lviv. There he met a blogger who invited him to help Ukraine and asked him to leave contacts.

About two months later, Barannik was invited to Kiev and offered cooperation. According to his testimony, after a polygraph test, he* was sent to Odessa for training. There he studied mine-explosion, intelligence, surveillance and counter-surveillance. Barannik also claimed to have seen foreign mercenaries at a training ground near the city.

In October 2022, after training, he* went to the Crimea. According to the FSB, in addition to collecting information, he was instructed to look for people to attract cooperation.

Kirill Barannik is included by Rosfinmonitoring in the list of terrorists and extremists.