Russia foils assassination plot targeting Defense Ministry officer
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Thursday it has foiled a planned attack targeting a Russian Defense Ministry officer and detained a foreign national allegedly recruited by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU).
The FSB Public Relations Center said that the suspect, a foreign citizen born in 1990, was detained during a special operation in the Moscow region. He was allegedly tasked by the SBU with assassinating a Russian military officer, News.az reports, citing Xinhua.
According to the FSB, the suspect entered Russia in February this year. Acting on instructions from his handlers, he retrieved a pistol fitted with a silencer and 16 rounds of ammunition from a hidden cache and conducted surveillance of the target's residence and workplace.
During questioning, the suspect said he had been recruited by SBU officers in a European Union (EU) country, where he had fled to avoid criminal prosecution in his home country, the FSB said.
The agency said the suspect was promised assistance in obtaining refugee status and legal residence in the EU in exchange for carrying out the assignment.
By Faig Mahmudov
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