A plot by Vladimir Putin’s agents to plant bombs in tea boxes in builders’ markets in Kyiv has been thwarted, Ukraine’s security chiefs have said.
They also stressed that they had stopped a cafe in Ukraine’s capital being targeted with a car bomb.
The attacks were planned for May 9, they added, the day when Russia celebrates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 and a military parade takes place through Moscow’s Red Square.
A third reported target was a business in the western city of Lviv, which even though it is far away from Russia has been repeatedly attacked during Putin’s war launched in February 2022.
Two Russian military agents were detained on suspicion of involvement in the alleged plots and 19 explosive devices were seized, said the prosecutor general's office.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement that four bombs had been intended for detonation in the capital on May 9.
"According to the plan of the Russian special service, the explosives were supposed to detonate during the supermarkets' peak hours to cause maximum damage to the civilian population," the agency added.
There was no immediate comment from Russia.
In Kyiv, the explosives intended for builders’ markets were disguised as packages of tea, while a bomb was placed in a car for an explosion near the cafe, according to the SBU.
The Lviv attack was meant to happen last February, the SBU added.
An unidentified defence enterprise was the target, according to prosecutors.
Ukraine regularly says it has thwarted attacks away from the front line planned by Russian security services, detaining agents it says are working for Moscow.
Last week, the SBU said it had caught two agents within the State Protection Department plotting the assassination of President Volodymyr Zelensky and the head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov.
Both sides have sought to strike deep inside in each other’s country during the conflict, including with the use of long-range drones.
Ukraine and Russia have also adapted their tactics as the war has gone along, with the former having success in depleting Putin’s Black Sea Fleet, and the latter using smaller forces for attacks, even sending troops on night strikes on off-road motorbikes and all-terrain vehicles.
The war is now largely being fought along a 620-mile frontline in eastern Ukraine, including in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, with Putin’s army chiefs having opened up a new offensive in the Kharkiv area in recent days where “fierce battles” are taking place, according to Mr Zelensky.
Russian commanders are seeking to make breakthroughs before delayed new equipment from the West arrives to boost Ukraine forces.
Britain has helped to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the planes.
They are not expected to be a game-changer for Ukraine in the war, according to military experts, but will strengthen its air defences.
