The suspect was poised to blow up her target’s car in Crimea prior to Victory Day, the agency said
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has announced that it has thwarted a planned terrorist attack in Crimea, saying a woman had been recruited by Ukrainian intelligence to kill a senior Defense Ministry officer.
In a statement on Monday, the agency identified the alleged culprit as a 25-year-old woman with dual Russian-Ukrainian citizenship who had been recruited by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU). Kiev later instructed her to carry out the car bombing on the eve of Victory Day in May 2025, the FSB said, without revealing any data about the target.
The FSB reported that the suspect had received an explosive device from her Ukrainian handlers, which was to be used to detonate the personal vehicle of the officer. “The SBU agents who carried out the recruitment and grooming of the terrorist have been identified,” the agency added. It said the woman was arrested, and components of a Western-made explosive device were seized.
The FSB also released a short clip of a brunette with a blurred face being escorted by two law enforcement officers. The woman could now face up to life in prison.
Since the start of the conflict, Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted Russian military officers and public figures, while also carrying out sabotage attacks that have often resulted in civilian casualties.
One of the most high-profile cases involved the death of Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy chief of Russia’s General Staff operations, who was killed in April by a car bomb in Moscow Region.
In December, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, was killed in a blast outside his Moscow apartment. Authorities have said that Ukraine was responsible for both assassinations.
