MOSCOW, (TDI): Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Saturday that it had thwarted an alleged Ukrainian plot to assassinate a senior Russian military officer and a pro-Russian war blogger using a bomb disguised as a portable music speaker.
The FSB, which succeeded the Soviet-era KGB, stated that a Russian citizen had been recruited by Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency through the Telegram messaging platform.
Following instructions from a Ukrainian intelligence officer, the individual retrieved a concealed explosive device in Moscow.
The bomb, described as equivalent to 1.5 kilograms of TNT and filled with ball bearings, was hidden inside a portable music speaker. The FSB did not disclose the identities of the intended targets.
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Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency has not commented on the allegations.
Ukraine’s Position on Targeted Killings
Ukraine views Russia’s war as an existential threat and has defended its use of targeted killings as a strategy to undermine morale and hold individuals Kyiv deems responsible for war crimes accountable.
Russia, however, considers such actions illegal “acts of terrorism,” accusing Ukraine of targeting civilians, including the 2022 killing of Darya Dugina, the daughter of a nationalist ideologue.
Previous Incidents
On December 17, Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service reportedly killed Lieutenant General Kirillov, head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection Troops, in Moscow.
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The general was killed outside his apartment building by a bomb attached to an electric scooter. Kyiv accused Kirillov of advocating the use of prohibited chemical weapons, a claim Moscow denies.
Reactions
Former U.S. Ukraine envoy, retired Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg, expressed skepticism about such tactics, telling Fox News on December 18 that these killings were “not really smart” and risked going “a little bit too far.”
Russia, meanwhile, has vowed to avenge Kirillov’s death, signaling a likely escalation in hostilities.
