FSB Foils Ukraine-Run Assassination Plots Against High-Level Russian Defense Officials

On Thursday, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it had thwarted a series of assassination plots, orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence, targeting high-ranking Russian defense officials involved in the military operation in Ukraine, as well as their family members.

"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 Ukrainian special services carried out the delivery of bomb components to Russia by concealing them in household appliances, tools, and car parts, the statement revealed. It also noted that homemade explosives and communication devices used in criminal activities were seized from the detainees who were taken into custody.

"An explosive device, disguised as a charging device (power bank) with magnets attached to it, was to be planted under the service vehicle of a high-ranking executive in the Russian Defense Ministry, driven by the executive's close relative," the FSB said, adding that the explosion itself was planned to be set off remotely from Ukraine.

A terrorist attack against another service member was plotted by Ukraine, involving two Russian citizens tasked with delivering a homemade explosive device disguised as a document folder. The device that was to be delivered, was hidden in a cache located in the Moscow Region, with its coordinates supplied by a Ukrainian citizen residing in Poland.