MOSCOW: The Federal Security Service (FSB) has thwarted a terrorist attack against a top Russian official – an explosion that was to be ca...
MOSCOW: The Federal Security Service (FSB) has thwarted a terrorist attack against a top Russian official – an explosion that was to be carried out at the grave of his loved ones in a Moscow cemetery using a video camera hidden inside a vase of flowers, the agency said.
Three accomplices in the plot – two Russian spouses and a migrant from a Central Asian country – have been arrested, the FSB told TASS.
"The Federal Security Service has prevented a terrorist act planned by the special services of Ukraine against one of the highest officials of the Russian state when he visited the burial place of close relatives at the Troyekurovskye Cemetery," the FSB said, without identifying the official.
According to the agency, Ukrainian security services recruited an illegal migrant from Central Asia, two previously convicted drug-addicted Russian citizens detained in Moscow, and Shamso Jaloliddin Kurbanovich, born in 1979 and residing in Kiev, who is wanted in Russia for murder and illegal arms trafficking.
The FSB said communication devices seized from the suspects contained correspondence with a Ukrainian special services officer via WhatsApp and Signal, confirming preparations for the assassination attempt. The agency also reported the discovery of a video surveillance camera disguised as a vase of flowers, equipped with remote control, which was to be used in the attack.
"According to FSB data, the Ukrainian regime, acting under the guidance of Western special services, is preparing similar crimes in other Russian regions," the agency noted.
The FSB again warned that Ukrainian special services continue to actively search for potential perpetrators of terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage online - including on social networks and messaging platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp - and stressed that confidential cooperation with foreign states or organizations is unacceptable. "Persons who commit such crimes face criminal liability under Russian law, including life imprisonment," the agency said.
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