Kremlin says it foiled Ukrainian plot to kill another Russian officer
- 28 December, 08:54
Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB, said on Saturday that it foiled a plot by Ukraine to assassinate a high-ranking Russian officer and a pro-government blogger in a bomb attack. The names of the targeted officer and the blogger have not been revealed.
According to the FSB, a bomb was concealed in a portable music speaker by a Russian citizen upon instructions of Ukrainian intelligence officers with whom he had established contact via Telegram messaging app.
Upon the Ukrainian intelligence officer’s instructions, the Russian citizen had retrieved a bomb, equivalent to 1- 1/2 kg of TNT, according to the FSB. Then he packed it with ball bearings and concealed it in the portable music speaker.
Kyiv has not commented on the FSB’s claims yet. The alleged assassination plot follows the killing of chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, Lieutenant General Kirillov on December 17. Kirillov and his aide were assassinated during a bomb explosion outside of an apartment building. Kyiv had accused Kirillov of promoting the use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, something Russia denies. The Russian general’s killing was earlier condemned by president-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg, who described the high-profile assassination as “not really smart”.
