Ukrainian special services pressured a Russian man with a criminal record into participating in an attempted drone-bomb assassination of a senior military officer in Moscow Region, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has said.
The suspect, who is in his late 40s, moved to Dnepr, Ukraine, after serving a prison term in Russia for theft and robbery in the 2000s, the agency said on Thursday. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) allegedly recruited him in February by threatening to prosecute his wife.
The suspect received training in sabotage operations before traveling to Russia via Moldova and Armenia. Once there, he rented an apartment and began surveilling the home of the intended target.
His Ukrainian handler allegedly concluded that the best way to carry out the assassination would be to use a small drone armed with an improvised explosive device and shielded from electronic countermeasures.
The man was instructed to recover the IED in Krasnodar Region and then travel to Kiev to be trained in piloting that type of aircraft. In a purported recording of a conversation, the Ukrainian handler said “our foreign friends” had helped design the weapon and would teach the suspect how to use it.
The FSB said its officers arrested the man after he obtained a vacuum-sealed drone payload containing 600 grams of explosive material. The suspect had also allegedly purchased a fake beard and mustache as a disguise.
Earlier in the day, the FSB reported arresting a woman involved in a separate Ukrainian assassination plot against a military official living in Moscow. It said the Ukrainian government had planned a series of attacks directed by Western intelligence agencies.
Last month, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky announced a 40-day campaign targeting Russia with long-range kamikaze drone attacks and clandestine missions.