The Russian Federal Security Service has identified the organizers of the blowing up of a section of the gas pipeline in Crimea, which occurred on August 23 near the settlement of Perevalnoye.

The department reported that the sabotage was organized by the operational service "Tavria" - a territorial unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in Kherson - with the participation of members of the organization "Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People" *.

On September 4, FSB officers detained the alleged mediator - deputy chairman of the Mejlis Nariman Dzhelyalov, as well as the perpetrators of the sabotage Asan and Aziz Akhtemovs.

As emphasized in the department, at the direction of one of the leaders of the "Mejlis" in June, the performers traveled to Kherson, where officers of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine taught them the explosives.

For committing sabotage, Ukrainian intelligence "promised them a monetary reward of about $ 2 thousand."

“The organizers of the sabotage are Riza Yagyaev-Veliulaev, an agent of the GUR, who fled Crimea after a disrupted terrorist act in August 2016, in which he was aiding, as well as his supervisors - Ukrainian military intelligence officer Maxim Martynyuk and his immediate superior, the head of the operational service "Tavria" Viktor Zelinsky ", - said in the department.

The FSB also reported that the organizers planned to time the rally to the Independence Day of Ukraine.

On the fact of the incident, a criminal case of sabotage was opened, all the detainees were taken into custody. 

"This sabotage was sanctioned by the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kirill Budanov, a participant in an unsuccessful action in 2016, during which he killed an FSB officer," the department added.

The service also released a video recording with fragments of interrogations of the defendants in the case, in which they confess and tell how they planted the explosives.

In particular, Asan Akhtemov said that in a fast food restaurant in Kherson a man “in red sneakers and a red cap” who introduced himself as Sayid sat down with him.

Akhtemov also said that the organizers informed him and his brother about the intention to set up an explosion on the gas pipeline, and later they showed an explosive device in the apartment and explained how to use it. 

On the eve of the Kiev District Court of Simferopol, two suspects were arrested for committing sabotage and one for complicity. The court ruled to choose a preventive measure for them in the form of detention until November 4, 2021. Prior to that, lawyer Emil Kurbedinov said that the police in Crimea detained five people, allegedly involved in the damage to the gas pipeline.

“From the materials of the case, it follows that these persons, acting on purpose, installed an explosive device to the gas pipeline of the State Unitary Enterprise of the Republic of Kazakhstan“ Krymgazseti ”in the village of Perevalnoye, Simferopol region of the Republic of Crimea, and detonated an explosion, as a result of which they inflicted damage on this infrastructure object, excluding its further operation, which entailed the cessation of gas supply to the residents of the village of Perevalnoye, the normal functioning of enterprises, institutions and organizations located on the territory of the settlement, ”the court said.

The court also said that, according to the investigation, Nariman Dzhelyalov had found the perpetrators of the sabotage.

The case materials also indicate that Asan Akhtemov hired his brother Aziz Akhtemov to carry out the sabotage.

Together they planted an explosive device on a gas pipe and detonated it.

“Dzhelyalov Nariman Inverovich on August 23, 2021, with the aim of assisting in the commission of actions aimed at the destruction or damage of objects ... in order to undermine the economic security and defense capability of the Russian Federation, he sought a citizen of the Russian Federation, Akhtemov Asan, as perpetrators of this crime, at the request of not established by the investigation persons, providing the latter with a contact phone number ", - quotes the words of the judge" Kryminform ".

The damage to the gas pipeline near the village of Perevalnoye near Simferopol became known on 23 August.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs then stated that mechanical damage to the gas pipe could have occurred as a result of the unlawful actions of unidentified persons.

A criminal case was initiated under Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (intentional destruction or damage to property).

* "Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People" is a public association recognized as extremist and banned on the territory of Russia (decision of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Crimea of ​​04/26/2016 and an appeal ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Administrative Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 09/29/2016).