Overview
- Ukraine’s Security Service and National Police arrested a 33-year-old suspect a day after the Feb. 16 SUV explosion in Odesa’s Kyivskyi district, which authorities classify as a terrorist act.
- SSU sources identified the detainee as Viktor Velentei, described as unemployed and recruited online while seeking quick cash.
- Officials say he assembled an improvised explosive device from store-bought parts and placed it under a parked vehicle near a residential building on Akademika Korolyova Street.
- Investigators report that Russian handlers provided remote instructions, monitored the scene with a disguised smartphone, and detonated the bomb from afar.
- The suspect has been notified of suspicion under Article 258.2 and remains in custody, as the blast injured a 56-year-old retired serviceman and followed a Feb. 6 car explosion on the same street that killed a 21-year-old soldier.