Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday that it thwarted an attempted landing in southern Ukraine’s partially occupied Kherson region carried out by Ukrainian special forces who received training from British commandos.
A video published by the Russian Defense Ministry broadcaster Zvezda showed what was said to be the Ukrainian special forces’ landing boat being struck with an explosive dropped from the air. The video then cuts to still images of bloodied bodies inside the boat and a cache of weapons laid out on the ground.
“The Ukrainian armed forces’ landing force was destroyed in the clashes,” the FSB said in a statement. It added that a Ukrainian serviceman, identified as 38-year-old “senior soldier” Yevhen Horyn, was captured following the thwarted landing attempt.
An FSB video shared by Zvezda contained Horyn’s lengthy account of being trained in the United Kingdom for a “special task,” as well as recent preparations to land at the Kherson region’s Tendra Spit “under the supervision of the British special services.” It was unclear whether his account was given under duress.
“The prisoner of war provided detailed information about undergoing sabotage training [at a British military camp],” the FSB said.
“Horyn, a participant in the [attempted landing], provided evidence of the direct involvement of the British Special Boat Service… in planning actions against Russian security, as well as training direct perpetrators inside the United Kingdom,” it added.
Neither the Ukrainian nor the British governments have yet to comment on the FSB’s claims. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, has accused the West of being a “direct belligerent” on the side of Kyiv.
In late February, Ukrainian special forces said some of its commandos had died in a “special” combat mission against Russia. At the time, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had killed up to 25 Ukrainian commandos attempting to land on the Tendra Spit sandbar in the Black Sea.