The key facts
- Natalia Tseluiko received 16 years in a penal colony and a fine of 500 thousand rubles, Muira Zdor — 8 years and 300 thousand rubles.
- According to the court's version, from February to June 2024 Tseluiko passed data on Russian military personnel in the region to Ukrainian intelligence.
- Both were detained on June 5, 2024, after components of explosive devices were seized from a cache.
Verdict in the Terrorist Attack Preparation Case
The Southern District Military Court sentenced two residents of Zaporizhzhia Region — Natalia Tseluiko and Muira Zdor — to 16 and eight years in a general-regime penal colony respectively. Fines were also imposed: 500 thousand rubles for Tseluiko and 300 thousand rubles for Zdor. According to the investigation, the case concerned the preparation of a terrorist attack against police officers on assignment from Ukrainian intelligence.
Data Gathering and Assignment from the GUR
As the agency established, Tseluiko joined a terrorist community created by Ukrainian special services and established contact with an officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. From February to June 2024, she gathered and transmitted information about the locations of Russian military units in the region, including their combat strength and equipment. Later, according to the court, a GUR representative proposed that she organize terrorist attacks against local police officers, and she agreed.
Detention on June 5, 2024
At the end of May 2024, Tseluiko received an assignment to retrieve explosive substances and other components for making improvised bombs from a cache. She involved Zdor in carrying out the assignment, concealing from her her own membership in the terrorist community. On June 5, 2024, both arrived at the cache, where Tseluiko took the prepared materials and placed them in her accomplice's car. The same day, law enforcement discovered the components of the explosive devices and detained the women.
Related Case
Earlier, Life.ru reported on the verdict against Anton Kadykov, who carried out an explosion in the MFC building in Primorsk, Zaporizhzhia Region: the same court sentenced him to 22 years of imprisonment and a fine of 600 thousand rubles, with the first four years to be served in prison. According to the case materials, he was a member of a terrorist community and surveilled the head of the MFC department where he worked as a security guard. In February 2025, he retrieved an improvised bomb from a cache, placed it on the ceiling above the victim's workplace, and detonated it remotely. The building was damaged, but the intended target was not in the office at the moment of the explosion. Kadykov was detained three days later.
