The agency says the perpetrators received “propaganda materials from Ukrainian terrorist structures”
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained five people accused of plotting mass murder in at least four regions, the agency announced on Wednesday.
The planned attacks were allegedly to take place in Donetsk, Mariupol, Krasnoyarsk, and Orel. The suspects, all Russian citizens, were acting on orders received via “destructive internet resources,” according to the FSB.
Separately, the agency said it detained three minors from Chelyabinsk Region who allegedly planned a terrorist attack on local transportation infrastructure. The three also received instructions via messaging apps, the FSB stated.
The agency said it seized components for homemade explosives and incendiary devices, bladed weapons, attack plans, Nazi symbols, and “propaganda materials from Ukrainian terrorist structures” from the detainees. It also released footage showing the arrests and evidence taken from their homes.
The detentions came amid a large-scale joint operation involving the Interior Ministry, the Investigative Committee, and the National Guard. The effort targeted “the spread of the ideology of violence, mass murder, and suicide among young people” in 75 regions.
As part of the operation, the activities of 59 administrators of Telegram channels and chats accused of spreading “neo-Nazi and terrorist ideology” were blocked, the FSB said. All were allegedly found to have correspondence with “foreign curators of terrorist organizations.”
The FSB said criminal cases were opened against nine individuals under articles covering preparation for a terrorist attack, participation in a terrorist organization, illegal possession of explosives, and public calls for terrorist or extremist activity. It added that “preventive measures” were taken against 258 others influenced online by extremist moderators, without specifying the measures.
Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the FSB has regularly reported that it has foiled plots and sabotage attempts, often involving operatives linked to Ukrainian intelligence.
Last week, the agency said it thwarted a Ukrainian plot to assassinate a senior Russian National Guard officer with a car bomb in the Lugansk People’s Republic, detaining a local man allegedly recruited by Ukrainian spy services.
The FSB has warned that the Kiev regime recruits online through social media and messenger apps, stressing that anyone assisting will face prosecution and punishment.
