The operatives detained the suspects and seized 24 explosive-laden UAVs, the agency has said
Russian security officers have thwarted a major plot by the Ukrainian intelligence agencies to smuggle AI-guided drones inside the country and use them to target a key defense industry enterprise and military airfields, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has said.
The failed operation, which was “unprecedented in scale and the level of threat,” had been prepared by Ukrainian spies with the direct involvement of their Western handlers, the agency said in a statement on Monday.
The FSB operatives were able to obtain information about plans by the Ukrainian intelligence agencies to deliver explosive-laden FPV drones and mobile ground control stations for them to Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, it said.
All of the criminal actions of Kiev’s agents were then closely monitored and documented by the Russian special services, the FSB said.
The drone parts had been placed in containers and flown into Russia using fixed-wing UAVs and balloons, it said.
After that, the hardware was transported deep into Russia by road, using civilian vehicles with trailers equipped with false bottoms, according to the agency.
The drones parts ended up being delivered to areas adjacent to the Ukrainka airfield in Amur Region in Russia’s Far East and Shagol airfield in Chelyabinsk Region in the Urals, the FSB said. The UAVs had been assembled and prepared for deployment in garages rented by the suspects, it added.
The agency said that at that moment “the perpetrators and accomplices involved in the terrorist plots were detained.”
The operatives seized a total of 24 FPV drones, which carried explosive charges equivalent to more than 1 kg of TNT and were equipped with British, US, Canadian, and Swedish-manufactured, electronic warfare-resistant AI control modules, it said.
They also confiscated two mobile ground control stations, which were fitted with self-destruct charges, and communication devices used by the Ukrainians agent to contact their handlers, the FSB said.
Last week, the agency announced the seizure of 13 AI-powered drones smuggled into Russia by Ukrainian military intelligence service (HUR) with the aim of attacking a military airfield in the southern Rostov Region.
