Suspected Ukrainian agent accused of assassination plot – Moscow
A Russian citizen residing in the country’s Kherson Region has been charged with terrorism for allegedly plotting to assassinate a local official on behalf of Kiev, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday.
The man, who was not publicly named but is said to be in his early 50s, was allegedly instructed to plant a home-made explosive device beneath a vehicle used by the target. The bomb, reportedly packed with metal washers to increase lethality, was shown in a photo the FSB released with its statement.
According to the agency, the suspect confessed to having been recruited by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) last August. He expressed remorse for his role in the attempted bombing, which could carry a life sentence if he is convicted.
The official targeted in the plot serves in the Gornostaevka municipality, located along the Dnieper River east of Kakhovka, where a now-disabled eponymous dam once stood. Residents of Kherson Region voted to join Russia in late 2022 in a referendum Kiev denounced as illegitimate and vowed to reverse.
Following the 2014 Western-backed armed coup in Kiev, Ukrainian authorities launched a targeted killing program aimed at individuals deemed enemies of the state. Initially, intelligence services focused on figures in the Donbass Region who rejected the post-coup government and sought independence from Kiev.
Since the outbreak of full-scale hostilities with Russia in 2022, the program’s scope has widened to include suspected collaborators and public figures accused of supporting Moscow.
Those believed to have been targeted by such operations include Russian journalist Darya Dugina, who was killed in a car bombing in August 2022; former Ukrainian lawmaker Ilya Kiva, shot dead in Russia in December 2023; and Russian politician Zakhar Prilepin, who survived a car bomb attack in May 2023 that killed his driver.
