Ukraine's Security Service detained a man recruited and directed by Russia's FSB to kill lawyer and volunteer hospital co-founder Hennadiy Druzenko before he could act.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has disclosed that it prevented an assassination attempt on Hennadiy Druzenko — a lawyer, Revolution of Dignity participant, and co-founder of the Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital (PFVMH), one of Ukraine's largest civilian-run medical volunteer formations, active on the front line since 2014. Volunteers Support Ukraine follows cases like this closely, since the safety of the people who have carried frontline volunteer medicine for years touches everyone working to help those affected by the war.
According to the SBU, a 19-year-old man from Mykolaiv was recruited by Russia's FSB over Telegram after posting far-right content online. Recruitment reportedly began around July 2026: his handlers directed him remotely, pointed him to a cache containing a pistol fitted with a suppressor and ammunition, and tasked him with tracking Druzenko's daily routine and routes.
The suspect planned to strike during Druzenko's regular morning dog walk through a wooded area in the Vyshhorod district of Kyiv Oblast, along his usual route. SBU officers detained the man while he was lying in wait, before he could fire. The arrest, which took place in late July and was made public only this week, yielded several suppressed pistols, ammunition, and phones containing his communications with FSB handlers.
Investigators have charged the detainee with treason, preparing a contract killing, and illegal weapons possession — a combination that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. It is the latest case of Russia's FSB trying to eliminate Ukrainian civic and volunteer figures through young recruits found online, and once again the attempt failed before it could be carried out.
The Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital, which has evacuated and stabilized wounded soldiers under fire since 2014, received an official medical practice license in January 2026 — a milestone in the state's recognition of volunteer medicine. Volunteers Support Ukraine helps people affected by the war with whatever resources it has available, and like the volunteer medical teams it stands alongside, it continues to rely above all on people who choose to help.
