Sergei Geidt

According to the investigation, he participated in a terrorist community allegedly created by officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and, from March to August 2022, conducted surveillance of locations visited and routes used by officials of the Kherson Regional Military-Civil Administration and Russian servicemen “for the purpose of subsequently committing acts of international terrorism.” Together with Vasilii Stetsenko (who died as a result of beatings prior to the formal initiation of criminal proceedings), they allegedly manufactured an improvised explosive device (IED) “of an electrical, high-explosive type” and, “no later than July 16, 2022 <…> by unspecified means transported and covertly installed, using a magnet, the IED they had manufactured on a pier.” It is further alleged that, “having confirmed the arrival of Kherson Regional Military-Civil Administration official A.I. Kovalev and Russian servicemen providing his security at the pier located at: Kherson, Karantynnyi Island, geographical coordinates 46.603231°, 32.555766°, they repeatedly attempted to remotely activate the IED; however, no explosion occurred due to a possible technical malfunction.” For the purpose of killing Kovalev, on July 11, 2022, Geidt transported Stetsenko by boat; Stetsenko then swam underwater and attached the IED beneath the pier to a support using a magnet, while Geidt waited in the reeds in the boat. Stetsenko subsequently swam to shore and waited for Kovalev to appear at the pier. As Kovalev approached the location where the IED had been installed, Stetsenko pressed the remote control several times, but for unknown reasons the device did not detonate. After these unsuccessful attempts, Geidt and Stetsenko, “under unspecified circumstances,” allegedly covertly removed the IED from the pier and transported it to an apartment in Kherson, where they “disassembled it and stored it until its seizure by law enforcement officers on August 2, 2022.”