Two Ukrainian nationals arrested in Georgia on explosives charges

The State Security Service of Georgia on Thursday announced that two Ukrainian citizens had been arrested on charges of the illegal acquisition, storage, and transportation of explosive substances.

The body said a Mercedes-Benz truck with Ukrainian license plates on Wednesday entered Georgia from Turkey through the Sarpi customs checkpoint, after traveling from Ukraine via Romania and Bulgaria. During an inspection, officers discovered 2.4 kilograms of the explosive substance “hexogen” hidden in specially concealed compartments of the vehicle.

Authorities emphasised that hexogen is a far more powerful explosive than TNT. Investigators established that the substance had been handed over to the driver, identified as Ukrainian citizen M.S., by an unidentified individual in Ukraine, with instructions to deliver it to a contact in Georgia. The second detainee, also a Ukrainian national identified as D.Zh., later approached the driver and collected the explosives from the concealed compartments.

Searches conducted during the operation uncovered eight mobile phones, a computer, electronic data storage devices, a large amount of cash, SIM cards from various countries, and a quantity of cocaine.

The State Security Service said further inquiries would determine the intended use of the explosives — whether a terrorist attack was being planned in Georgia, if the country was being used as a transit route, or for another purpose.