“Russia’s Federal Security Service foiled a series of assassination attempts planned by representatives of Ukrainian special forces to kill senior soldiers of the Russian Ministry of Defense participating in a special military operation. and their family members,” TASS reported, citing the FSB’s announcement.
Four Russian citizens involved in the plans were arrested. Bombs intended to assassinate officials were disguised as power banks and file folders.
Russian security forces near the FSB headquarters after a shooting incident in 2019
According to the FSB, a Russian citizen permanently residing in Ukraine since 2020, recruited by Ukrainian intelligence, arrived in Moscow in November through Moldova and Georgia to carry out the attack. This person returned to Russia under the guise of being deported and took an improvised explosive device and a video surveillance system from a hidden location. The explosive device was disguised as a power bank with a magnet and was prepared to be hidden in the vehicle of the targeted Russian official. The car driver is a relative of this official.
Ukrainian forces plan to detonate the bomb remotely and at the same time prepare an escape route for the bomber to go to Ukraine and another country in the European Union (EU).
The FSB also identified a person living in Moscow who was hired by Ukraine to monitor the whereabouts and work of high-ranking officials and their families. This person sent photos and videos to those planning the attack.
Mr. Trump’s special envoy criticized the assassination of the Russian general
According to the plan to target another official, two Russian citizens (both arrested) were tasked with delivering to the target a folder containing documents, but inside was actually a homemade explosive device. The item was located at a location in Moscow and a Ukrainian citizen named Ragozha Vitaly Nikolayevich (born in 1988) provided the other two with the coordinates of the item’s location. According to the FSB, Nikolayevich lives in Poland and works for Ukrainian intelligence.
The FSB seized explosive devices and communication devices from four subjects. Parts of explosive devices were shipped to Russia in the form of consumer electronics, tools and car parts.
The four subjects face charges of transporting explosives and explosive devices, conspiracy to commit terrorist attacks and treason, which could result in life imprisonment.
Ukraine has not commented on the case. Previously, on December 17, General Igor Kirillov of Russia’s agency for the prevention of radiological, chemical and biological weapons was assassinated outside his Moscow apartment in a car bomb attack by Ukrainian intelligence, according to Reuters.
