Employees of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSS) have prevented assassination attempts on high-ranking employees of the Ministry of Defense participating in military operations against Ukraine, as well as their family members. According to FSB data, the preparations for the murders were organized by the Ukrainian special services, Kommersant newspaper reports.
Four Russians were arrested. They face up to life imprisonment. As reported by the FSB, one of the criminals is a Russian resident in Ukraine since 2020. He arrived in Moscow in November through the territory of Moldova and Georgia under the name of a deportee.
In the capital of Russia, he took an improvised explosive device, which was disguised as an external battery, from a secret place. He had to place it under the official car of one of the high-ranking leaders of the Ministry of Defense, whose driver was a close relative of the arrested person.
The bombing was supposed to be carried out remotely. The second detainee said during the interrogation that he had gone to Ukraine, where he was recruited by the Ukrainian special services. After that, he was sent to Russia to follow high-ranking employees of the Ministry of Defense, as well as their family members. He passed all the received information to the Ukrainian curator in order to organize future terrorist attacks.
According to FSB data, two more Russians were involved in the preparation of another soldier's murder. They had to hand over to the Ministry of Defense employee a folder with documents in which explosives were hidden. Improvised explosive devices and means of communication were seized from the four arrested.
Criminal cases were opened for illegal trafficking of explosives and explosive devices, preparation of terrorist attacks and high treason.
A few days ago, as a result of the explosion in Moscow, Igor Kirilov, the head of the radiological, chemical and biological defense forces of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as his assistant Ilya Polikarpov, were killed. According to various reports, their murder was carried out by the special services of Ukraine.
