Latest news with #UkrainianNational
Russia Today
5 days ago
- Russia Today
Ukrainian national charged over assassination plot in Russia
A Ukrainian national accused of plotting the assassination of a Russian military veteran has been detained, the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Wednesday. The man, a resident of Novgorod Region in northwestern Russia, has been charged with attempted terrorist activity and illegal possession of explosives, according to an FSB statement. Investigators are reportedly gathering further evidence to pursue additional charges of sabotage and collaboration with a hostile power. The suspect, who is in his late 20s, told the authorities that he first contacted Ukrainian intelligence officials in October 2023, according to footage released by the agency. He is accused of carrying out arson attacks on two privately owned vehicles belonging to individuals he believed were Russian military personnel in September and December 2024. In January, he was allegedly instructed to surveil and assassinate a specific individual using an improvised explosive device. The intended target was described by the FSB as a military veteran and public figure. The authorities claim that the suspect retrieved bomb components from a hidden cache shortly before being taken into custody. The video published by the FSB appears to show explosives, a fuse, and other elements associated with the assembly of improvised bombs. The arrest follows another reported counterterrorism operation revealed this week. On Tuesday, the FSB said it had foiled a separate Ukrainian-planned attack in southern Krasnodar Region, in which the suspect allegedly aimed to detonate a 2.5kg homemade explosive at an energy company. Earlier this year, a Russian court sentenced a man who attempted to poison military cadets by delivering a cake laced with toxins to a graduation celebration. The convict was born in Ukraine and moved to Russia in 2018, eventually becoming a naturalized citizen.
The Independent
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Third suspect arrested over fires at properties linked to UK prime minister
A third man was arrested Monday for a series of fires that targeted property linked to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, police said. The unnamed 34-year-old was arrested in Chelsea, west London, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life, Metropolitan Police said. A 26-year-old man was arrested on the same charge Saturday, the day after Roman Lavrynovych, a Ukrainian national, appeared in court on charges of setting fire to Starmer's personal home, along with a property where he once lived and a small SUV he had sold. Police didn't provide the nationality of the second and third suspects. No injuries were reported from the fires, which occurred on three nights in north London between May 8 and May 12. Lavrynovych, 21, didn't enter a plea Friday in Westminster Magistrates' Court to three counts of arson with intent to endanger life. A prosecutor said there was no explanation for the crimes and that Lavrynovych denied setting the fires. Starmer and his family had moved into the prime minister's official Downing Street residence after he was elected in July.
The Independent
16-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Selling Greek Cypriot property in the breakaway north of split Cyprus? You could end up in court
Cyprus won't stop launching legal proceedings against realtors and developers who illegally make money off Greek Cypriot properties in the breakaway north of the ethnically divided island nation, with four such cases currently being adjudicated, an official said Friday. A Ukrainian man, a German national and two Israelis — among them real estate developer Simon Aykut — are being tried on a variety of charges including illegally advertising the sale of Greek Cypriot property, illegal possession and use of such property and conspiracy. All four defendants remain in custody. The properties are in areas along Cyprus' northern and eastern coastlines near the towns of Kyrenia and Famagusta in villages such as Akanthou and Ayios Amvrosios (Tatlisu and Esentepe in Turkish respectively) that are popular with foreign buyers because of their idyllic surroundings. Property rights are a deeply contentious issue in Cyprus, which was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded in the wake of an Athens junta-backed coup aiming at uniting the island with Greece. Some 160,000 Greek Cypriots subsequently fled the north where Turkish Cypriots declared independence that only Turkey recognizes. Around 45,000 Turkish Cypriots living in the south, where the internationally recognized government is seated, moved to the north. Property has been a core issue over decades of failed, United Nations mediated peace talks. The EU's top court as well as the European Court of Human Rights have affirmed the Greek Cypriots' rights to property ownership in the north. But the ECHR has also backed the establishment of a Turkish Cypriot property commission to which Greek Cypriots can apply to either be compensated for their property or reclaim it. But a recent boom in construction of luxury villas and apartments in the north has prompted Cypriot legal authorities to take a more assertive stance toward realtors and developers to discourage what they say is the large-scale 'illegal usurpation' of Greek Cypriot land. 'It's not just a few homes being built on Greek Cypriot property, we're now seeing entire complexes being constructed,' a lawyer with knowledge of the pending cases told The Associated Press. 'And the ongoing legal action has clearly had an effect on foreigners who are now more reluctant to get involved.' The lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity because they can't discuss the matter publicly. Last week, a Cypriot court sentenced two Hungarian women to 30 month and 15 month jail sentences respectively for advertising the sale of Greek Cypriot property in the north online. 'The exploitation of property that belongs to displaced Cypriots for financial gain is, from any perspective, unacceptable and condemnable,' the court said in its decision. The court also suggested that such exploitation could risk harming future peace talks by adversely complicating the property issue. The island's Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said this week that although the executive branch doesn't interfere in the work of the judiciary, the prosecutions are ultimately a message to all those involved in the sale of Greek Cypriot properties in the north that 'what they're doing is an illegal act and are prosecuted for it.' 'The right to property is an individual matter and the owner of the property is the one who should decide what to do with it, nothing more,' he said. But the court cases have sparked a furor among Turkish Cypriot leaders who view it as a hostile attempt to undercut their community's economic development. Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar called the prosecutions a 'terrorist act' against Turkish Cypriots in defiance of international law, aiming to 'weaken them legally and politically' on top of harming their economic prospects. He also warned that the court actions 'won't go unanswered.'
The Independent
16-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Man charged over fires at homes linked to Sir Keir Starmer appears in court
A 21-year-old man has appeared in court charged with three counts of arson after three fires at two properties and a car linked to Sir Keir Starmer. Roman Lavrynovych, a Ukrainian national from Sydenham, southeast London, was remanded in custody after appearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday. He was arrested during the early hours of Tuesday and charged on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police said. Officers from the Met's Counter Terror Command have led the investigation due to the connections to the prime minister. Police were called by the London Fire Brigade to reports of a fire an an address in Kentish Town at 1.35am on Monday. Damage was caused to the entrance of the property, where Sir Keir lived with his family before they moved into 10 Downing Street, but no one was injured. Neighbours described hearing a loud bang and said police officers were looking for a projectile. A car linked to Sir Keir was set alight in the early hours of Thursday 8 May in the same street. In the early hours of Sunday, firefighters dealt with a small fire at the front door of a house converted into flats in nearby Islington, which is also linked to the Prime Minister. One person was assisted to safety via an internal staircase by crews wearing breathing apparatus, LFB said. Wearing a grey tracksuit and aided by a Ukrainian interpreter, he only spoke to confirm his name and date of birth. Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring told him: 'The three charges you face are indictable only. That means I'm obliged to allocate them to the crown court. In this case that means the Central Criminal Court for a plea hearing on 6 June.'
The Sun
09-05-2025
- The Sun
Brit tycoon arrested over ‘rape of two women after they were lured to luxury hotel in Majorca'
A BRITISH former multi-millionaire tycoon has been arrested in Majorca on suspicion of raping two women at a luxury hotel. The 55-year-old allegedly targeted the women on separate occasions at a five-star hotel in Portals Nous. 2 2 The Brit was detained on Wednesday after the second of the two women, a Ukrainian national, accused him of forcing himself on her. She had flown to the island's capital Palma for an arranged meeting. She made a formal complaint after being taken to hospital by police, alleging she had been raped at the weekend following the rendezvous. The other woman, who is from South America, has claimed her attack took place at the start of the year. Civil Guard officers have prepared a report for a court in Palma which is conducting an ongoing criminal probe after the man's police quiz.
