A Ukrainian politician behind the plot
The Georgian State Security Service (SSSG) announced on Monday that it had intercepted several units of special explosive devices and a large amount of explosives that were being transported from Ukraine to Russia through Georgia. The SSSG said that the operation was organized by Andrey Sharashidze, a Ukrainian citizen and former candidate of the Servant of the People party, who is originally from Batumi, Georgia.
According to the SSSG, Sharashidze hired seven people from Georgia, three from Ukraine, and two from Armenia to carry out the plan. The explosive devices were armed with C-4 plastic explosives, which can be activated with an electric detonator and a special timer. The total weight of the explosives was 14 kilograms. The SSSG said that deploying such devices in crowded areas would cause significant damage to infrastructure and large-scale casualties.
The route of the explosives
The SSSG said that the explosives were brought into Georgia on January 19 from the Ukrainian city of Odesa, via Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey, in a minivan belonging to a Ukrainian citizen. The vehicle entered Georgia through the Sarpi checkpoint on the border with Turkey. The SSSG said that following investigative actions and based on preliminary information, a specific vehicle was searched, leading to the removal of two electric car batteries. These batteries were used as containers, each containing six explosive devices.
The SSSG said that to maintain the secrecy of the ongoing investigation, the containers were restored to their original appearance and presented as mock-ups so that the secret activities would not become known to both the customers and the performers. The primary goal of the investigation was to determine the orderers and others involved in the cargo transportation, the route of movement, and their final use goals.
The seizure of the explosives
The SSSG said that one of the containers with three explosive devices was left at a specific address in Tbilisi, while the other container was supposed to cross the Georgian-Russian state border from the Georgian side. The intended destination was initially the Russian Federation, the city of Voronezh. However, the plan changed later, and the container was stopped and removed by the employees of the counter-terrorist centre when it was about to enter Russia.
The SSSG said that the bomb squad removed the explosive devices and sent them to the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Expert-Criminal Department for examination. Each of the six explosive device boxes contained an electronic activation timer with a pre-programmed activation time. The SSSG released a video showing the seized explosives and the containers.
The SSSG’s counter-terrorism unit has opened an investigation into the incident under the Georgian Criminal Code article on the possession of explosives and explosive devices. The SSSG said that it was cooperating with the relevant authorities of Ukraine and Russia to identify and prosecute the perpetrators.
