FSB foils Kiev plot to assassinate Russian official at Moscow cemetery
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The FSB says suspects linked to Ukrainian intelligence planned an attack using surveillance tech and were preparing similar plots across Russia.
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A patch on the uniform of an FSB officer during the detention of a suspect in Russia, on February 16, 2001 (Ria Novosti)
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it had thwarted what it described as an assassination attempt by Ukrainian security services targeting a senior Russian official at Moscow’s Troyekurovskoye Cemetery.
“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has thwarted a terrorist attack planned by Ukrainian security services against a senior Russian official while he was visiting the burial site of his close relatives at Troyekurovskoye Cemetery,” the agency said in a statement.
According to the FSB, investigators seized communication devices that allegedly contained exchanges between the detained suspects and an operative from Ukraine’s special services, purportedly confirming preparations for the attack.
Authorities also reported finding a remote-controlled surveillance camera concealed inside a flower vase, which they said had been used to monitor the area.
The agency said four individuals were recruited for the operation, including a migrant from Central Asia. “The Ukrainian regime, acting under the guidance of Western intelligence services, is preparing similar attacks in other Russian regions,” the FSB claimed.
The agency reiterated that clandestine cooperation with foreign states or international organizations is prohibited under Russian law, warning that violators face severe criminal penalties, including life imprisonment.
Russia says thwarted Ukrainian, UK operation to hijack MiG-31 jet
Earlier this week, on Tuesday, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it had foiled an attempt by Ukrainian military intelligence, working in coordination with British handlers, to hijack a Russian MiG-31 supersonic fighter jet equipped with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile.
In a statement, the agency said, "The Federal Security Service (FSB) has uncovered and thwarted an operation by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and its British handlers to hijack a Russian MiG-31 supersonic high-altitude fighter jet, which carries a Kinzhal hypersonic missile."
According to the FSB, Ukrainian intelligence operatives sought to recruit Russian pilots, offering a reward of $3 million in exchange for flying the aircraft to a NATO-aligned location, adding, "The [Ukrainian] intelligence service subsequently planned to send an aircraft armed with a Kinzhal missile to the deployment area of NATO's largest airbase in southeastern Europe, located in the city of Constanta in Romania, where it could have been shot down by air defense systems."
An FSB officer revealed that Bellingcat, a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group, played a role in the operation. The group is accused of acting as an intermediary in the recruitment effort. "When contacting the aircraft commander, intelligence used a journalistic organization called Bellingcat, which had already come under our radar," the officer told Rossiya 24 broadcaster.
The FSB reiterated that the attempted hijacking was part of a broader intelligence operation orchestrated by Ukraine and Western actors, particularly the UK.
FSB; Russia’s frontline against covert Ukrainian plots
Taken together, the series of disrupted plots underscores the FSB’s increasingly watchful eye over covert operations directed from Kiev and its Western partners. By publicizing the interception of the assassination attempt and elaborate aircraft-hijacking schemes, Moscow seeks to portray its security services as a decisive bulwark against escalating hybrid warfare tactics.
The FSB insists that its vigilance not only neutralizes immediate threats, but also exposes a wider pattern of clandestine activity aimed at undermining Russia’s internal stability, a campaign the agency says it will continue to pre-empt with uncompromising counterintelligence measures.
Read more: FSB says foiled Ukrainian operation to hijack Russian helicopter
