Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) thwarted an attempted bomb attack against a humanitarian aid collection point in the Samara region, state media reported Tuesday.
A 30-year-old “accomplice” of the Russian Volunteer Corps — one of the pro-Kyiv militias fighting against the Russian army in Ukraine — allegedly died after an explosive device he was carrying went off, the Interfax news agency reported.
“During the arrest of the attacker, the improvised explosive device he seized self-detonated, as a result of which he received injuries incompatible with life,” the FSB said in a statement.
No civilians or security officers were said to have been hurt by the blast.
The FSB said Ukrainian intelligence services had recruited the man — who was not named — in September with the help of Russian Volunteer Corps member Alexander Kudashev.
Around the same time, Russian authorities charged Kudashev for his “participation in illegal armed groups or military actions” against Russia and issued a warrant for his arrest.
His girlfriend, environmental activist Irina Izmailova, was arrested on charges of manufacturing explosives on behalf of the Russian Volunteer Corps.
President Vladimir Putin earlier in March instructed the FSB to wage a sweeping crackdown on volunteer units fighting on the side of Ukraine, whom he called “scum” traitors.
The militias, which say they are made up of Russian citizens who oppose their home country’s invasion of Ukraine, have claimed responsibility for a string of incursions into Russian border regions over the past year.