Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the Soviet Union's feared successor to the KGB, said on Thursday it had thwarted a Ukrainian plot to assassinate a Russian military officer and his family using a hidden bomb in Moscow.
“The Russian Federal Security Service thwarted a series of assassination attempts against senior officials of the Ministry of Defense. Four Russian nationals involved in the preparation of these attacks were detained,” Russian security services announced. said.
According to the FSB, one of the detainees was supposed to obtain a bomb small enough to disguise as a mobile phone charger and attach it to his car with a magnet. Another member of the conspiracy was tasked with spying on senior Russian defense officials to select targets for the operation.
Russian state television broadcast footage of the suspects ostensibly confessing to having been scouted by Ukrainian agents to assassinate Russian military officials.
The tactics described by the FSB were similar to the December 17 bombing that killed Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia's Radiological, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces.
Kirillov, 54 years old, killed He and his deputy Ilya Polikarpov were killed by a remote-controlled bomb attached to a scooter. The bomb exploded as the two were leaving Kirillov's home in a residential area in southeast Moscow.
Ukrainian SBU security services promptly alleged liability He described the attack as a “legitimate target” and described the Russian general as a war criminal.
“Such ignominious consequences await those who kill Ukrainians. Retaliation for war crimes is inevitable,” the SBU said.
Kirilov is under sanctions from Britain and Canada for spreading “disinformation” and overseeing the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine. The SBU effectively tried Kirillov in absentia the day before he was killed and found him guilty of “massive use of prohibited chemical weapons.”
The day after Kirillov's death, Russian officials announced A 29-year-old Uzbek man was detained for “committing an act of terrorism.'' During interrogation, the suspect appeared to have “explained that he had been recruited by Ukraine's special forces,” and that Ukraine had offered him $100,000 and a European passport in exchange for the assignment.
Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly scolded He said the FSB had made a “grave lapse” in authorizing Kirillov's assassination, which he called an “act of terrorism.”
Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out other assassinations on Russian territory, but unlike the Kirillov incident, Ukraine disputes these allegations. The SBU did not immediately comment on the new assassination plot, which the FSB claimed to have thwarted on Thursday.
