FSB Thwarts String of Assassination Plots Targeting Senior Defense Officials

"The Federal Security Service of Russia has prevented a series of terrorist attacks planned by the Ukrainian special services against high-ranking officials of the Russian Defense Ministry, taking part in the special military operation, and against their relatives. As a result of the measures taken, four Russian citizens involved in the preparation of the aforementioned assassinations were detained," the FSB said in a statement.

Additionally, a Moscow resident recruited by the Ukrainian special services to gather intelligence on the targets has been identified, the security service said.

The delivery of bomb components to Russia has been carried out by the Ukrainian special services in household appliances, tools, and car parts, the statement read, adding that self-made explosives and communication devices used in criminal activities have been seized from the detained.

In relation to another serviceperson, a terrorist act has been planned with the involvement of two Russian citizens — who are detained now — who were supposed to deliver to him a self-made explosive device disguised as a document folder. The device has been supposed to be extracted from a stash in the Moscow Region located at the coordinates provided by a Ukrainian citizen living in Poland.