They have called the Security Council because of them, but they are not sitting in the cell. What happened to the men who were supposed to threaten our security?

Suspicious Ukrainian

On Thursday, we informed you that police officers from the Office for the Fight against Organized Crime (ÚBOK) detained a Ukrainian man in Michalovce after a chase. Specifically, the Anti-Crime Unit intervened in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

CCTV cameras showed how police searched his car for almost two hours and found various objects. The man ended up in handcuffs, with a head injury.

The raid also continued in the nearby village of Vinné. The police searched a cottage that the Ukrainian had rented. Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok and SIS chief Pavol Gašpar were informed about the raid after the Security Council meeting, two days after the action.

Gašpar said at the time that several actions and criminal proceedings were underway in the case. Another man was also detained.

Watch the full press conference from 28 November after the Security Council.

They let them go, they couldn't hold them any longer

Later, information appeared in the media that they were Ukrainians who also have Hungarian citizenship and have been granted permanent residence in Slovakia.

The daily SME writes that Vjacseszlav was blocked by several vehicles while driving in his Skoda Octavia on Tuesday and then ended up in a police cell. Police said he was a terror suspect along with other men. However, the Ukrainian was released after less than four days. Charges have not been brought.

Šutaj Eštok and Gašpar announced after the Security Council that the man was to have been involved in the preparation of a terrorist attack on critical infrastructure. And he was not alone - a second man - a Slovak - also ended up in handcuffs. "We have documented, at least at the intelligence level, the long-term coordinated activity of a certain group of people, which shows signs of sophisticated intelligence activity and relates to and has a potential impact on the security of the Slovak Republic," Gašpar said.

During searches of the cars and houses of the detained men, police discovered various evidence - camouflage items, drones and maps. Therefore, the state forces decided that the protection of Slovakia's critical infrastructure would be strengthened.

Denník SME reminded that if it was a particularly serious crime of terrorism, the police had 96 hours, i.e. four days, to charge the men. At the same time, the prosecutor's office should have proposed to the court that they be remanded in custody. The other option was to release them on bail.

The time limit expired at 6 a.m. on Saturday. Vjacseszlav was still due to be released on Friday at around 8 p.m. He returned home by taxi. According to information from Markíza, a second man is also at large.

Was there a possible attack?

Šutaj Eštok clarified the information about the possible threat on Saturday afternoon on Saturday Dialogues on STVR. He said that activities had been recorded on the territory of eastern Slovakia, which indicated a possible preparation of a terrorist attack on critical infrastructure.

He noted that according to intelligence information, there was an organised group that was surveying the terrain near the Druzhba gas or oil pipeline, not only in Slovakia, but also in Hungary. Thus, the potential danger is still there as the conflict in Ukraine continues, he added.

After the session, the minister told the media that in the case of the Ukrainian who was detained at the roundabout in Michalovce, there was a proposal to expel him from the country.

"This particular person has been expelled from the Slovak Republic. Administrative expulsion has some time limits. I can guarantee that this will not be a person who should threaten the security of Slovakia," he said, adding that residents need not worry.

He did not elaborate on the charges against the other detainees.

Watch the full statement from the interior minister.