Moscow: Russia has reportedly foiled a major terrorist attack in Moscow, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said. ISIS terrorists had planned to bomb a police station in the capital region. To execute their plan, they acquired a car and gas cylinders and began assembling an explosive device. During an attempt to arrest the suspects, they resisted with armed force but were neutralised by return fire, the FSB said.
The FSB on Thursday said that it had arrested many people linked to a foiled Ukrainian plot to assassinate high-ranking Russian military officials. This news comes amid the recent killing of a prominent Russian general. According to a statement from the FSB, the agency arrested four Russian nationals accused of conspiring to assassinate senior officers in the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Plot involved remote -controlled car bomb
The FSB said that the suspected masterminds had planned to carry out the attacks using a remotely controlled car bomb targeting one of the officials and an explosive device concealed in an envelope meant for another senior officer. However, the FSB did not reveal the names of the targeted military figures.
A video released by the FSB showed the arrest and interrogation of the suspects, but their identities were not revealed. The development comes in the wake of the death of Lt Gen Igor Kirillov on December 17, who was killed by a bomb placed on an electric scooter outside his apartment. The attack, which also claimed the life of his assistant, was attributed to Ukraine and marked a dramatic escalation in the conflict, with the incident occurring in Moscow.
Uzbek national detained
In connection with the investigation, the FSB also detained a suspect from Uzbekistan, who reportedly admitted to being recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services. Lt Gen Kirillov, 54, was the head of Russia’s Radiation, Biological, and Chemical Protection Forces, specialised troops responsible for safeguarding against nuclear, chemical, and biological threats to the military, as well as ensuring operations in contaminated environments. Russian President Vladimir Putin called Kirillov’s assassination a huge failure for Russia’s security agencies. He ured them to learn from the incident and enhance their effectiveness.
