Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Tuesday that its agents killed a suspected Ukrainian military intelligence officer allegedly plotting to assassinate a Russian defense industry executive.
The FSB identified the man as a Russian citizen born in 1984, accusing him of illegal trafficking explosives and claiming he was working on behalf of Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency.
According to Russian law enforcement authorities, the man was instructed by “his handlers” to create an improvised explosive device (IED), which was to be used as a car bomb targeting a defense executive in the Sverdlovsk region, a major hub for Russian defense manufacturing.
FSB agents reportedly killed the man during a gunfight as he attempted to place the IED in a cache. “While being apprehended, he offered armed resistance and was neutralized by return fire,” the FSB said in a statement.
Footage released by state news agencies showed the body of a man in a wooded area holding a handgun, along with images of what the FSB claimed were the explosive device components found in a garage.
The FSB did not identify the alleged target of the assassination plot, describing him only as a “senior employee of a defense company.”
There was no immediate response from Kyiv about Russia’s allegations.
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