DONETSK, April 21. /TASS/. The perpetrator of a failed attack on Gorlovka Mayor Ivan Prikhodko had earlier been recruited by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to track the movements of Russian troops and was immediately placed under surveillance by the local branch of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the FSB directorate for the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) told TASS on Friday.

"Artyom Pyzin was recruited by members of the SBU’s counterintelligence department in order to gather information on the locations and movements of units of the Russian Federation Armed Forces in the cities of Gorlovka and Yenakiyevo. Since the moment he was recruited, he was placed under surveillance by operatives of the FSB Directorate for the Donetsk People’s Republic. In March 2023, he was instructed to [covertly] scout out [the movements of] Ivan Prikhodko, head of the Gorlovka city administration, so as to pinpoint his routine travel routes and locations. Later, on the SBU’s instructions, in an abandoned building Pyzin attempted to assemble an explosive device, which blew up in his hands," an FSB representative said.

According to the law enforcement official, a search is currently underway for those involved in plotting the assassination attempt. "Currently, Russia’s FSB Directorate for the Donetsk People’s Republic is conducting a series of measures directed at establishing the identities and whereabouts of all participants in and organizers of the planned attack," he said.

Earlier, Prikhodko said that an attempt on his life was being plotted in April but that it had been thwarted. According to the mayor, the perpetrators planned to place an explosive device at a local cafe.